The 'staggering' economic cost of UK's diet-related ill health is revealed

'The connection between diet and health is often discussed, but the economics of that link are staggering' - Prof Tim Jackson, the director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at Surrey University

The UK's unhealthy food system comes with an annual cost of £268billion, a report by the Food Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) says.

The report calculated the direct and indirect impact of diet-related ill health, combining healthcare and social care costs, welfare spending, productivity losses, and the human consequences of chronic disease. The breakdown of the food-related cost of chronic disease in the UK includes £67.5bn in healthcare, £14.3bn in social care, £10.1bn in welfare, £116.4bn in lost productivity, and £60bn linked to chronic disease caused by the current food ecosystem.

Prof Tim Jackson, who led the analysis, said: "The connection between diet and health is often discussed, but the economics of that link are staggering. When we factor in the health impacts, we discover that the true cost of an unhealthy diet is more than three times what we think we’re paying for our food."

The report also highlights that ultra-processed foods makeup over half of the UK adult diet and almost two-thirds of the adolescent diet, with the market expected to grow in the coming year. The report calls for the right to healthy food to be legislated, a regulated food environment to avoid harm, and a redirection of funds toward a healthier, greener, fairer, and more robust food economy. FFCC's chief executive,

Sue Pritchard, stressed the need for reformation, commenting: "There is a clear and urgent economic case for changing the UK food system" She also remarked: "The state of the nation’s health is not simply the result of under-investment in the NHS. It represents the longstanding failure to take seriously the critical relationship between food and farming, health and inequalities.

"As things are, big food companies are profiting from developing, making and marketing unhealthy food, leaving people with too many unhealthy options – while farmers struggle to make ends meet."

This week, the Food Foundation charity pointed out that the food environment, encompassing adverts, restaurant menus, and supermarket promotions, are crafting diets that "setting us up to fail".

Referencing their State of the Nation’s Food Industry report, they refer to University of Liverpool research from 2022 showing that just five firms – Haribo, Mars, Mondelez, PepsiCo, and Kellogg’s – dominated over 80% of pre-9pm snack and confectionery TV ads, indicative of how the UK food system "relentlessly" nudges consumers towards less healthy choices.

The Government has confirmed that from October 1 next year, junk food adverts will be banned from being shown on TV before 9pm. This comes as part of a wider crackdown, with existing rules already preventing these ads from appearing on children's channels or during kids' programmes.