Oct 1st, 2025
2 mins
Independent research carried out by the University of Leeds has estimated that two million fewer in-scope HFSS products were sold per day following the introduction of new legislation to restrict supermarket sales of foods high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS).
For the evaluation, researchers used store level sales and product data from Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, alongside the Priority Places for Food Index. This is an online tool which identifies neighbourhoods most in need of support to access affordable, healthy and sustainable foods.
They also conducted surveys and interviews with representatives from the four UK supermarkets, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and enforcement officers.
Nearly 2,000 shoppers were also surveyed to find out how the legislation was perceived and how it impacted shopping behaviours.
Before the legislation was implemented, 20 out of every 100 items sold were in-scope HFSS products. Following legislation this number dropped to 19.
Read more about the research here
