Harnessing big data to solve the UK’s big health challenge

In 2016 the UK Government embarked on the biggest national initiative ever taken to address the issue of childhood obesity. At the heart of this plan is the Sugar Reduction Programme, which covers ten food and drink categories. In recent weeks, Public Health England published their annual report detailing how the industry is performing against the targets set.

Using IRI’s Nutritional Service we can fast forward 12 months on from this latest PHE report to highlight how despite the successful removal of thousands of tonnes of sugar, performance against other traffic light nutrients has measures. In fact, despite significant investment from manufacturers and retailers, the industry itself could be undermining its own efforts through promotional and pricing strategies that drive consumers to less healthy choices.

Against the backdrop of the 3 levers offered by PHE; product reformulation, pack size change and encouraging consumer switching to healthier alternatives, IRI will share insights into how successfully the industry is delivering the health & wellness agenda in store. The IRI team will also share thoughts on the outlook for the future and how advances in nutritional insights can shed light on increasingly significant blind spots to help the industry successfully deliver the collective ambition to improve the nation’s health.