How innovation can help reduce the impact of diet-related diseases

White Paper

Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. Innovate UK works across a broad range of industries to accelerated economic growth by stimulating and supporting business led innovation. We are responsible for investing over £440m each year in UK innovations - supporting 5,000 businesses and working with 150 research groups. We work across business, universities and government.

The food supply chain is one of our key targets for investment and we have a significant role in the delivery of support to the sector via the UK government’s Agricultural Technologies Strategy1. Working closely with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), we are delivering the Agri-Tech Catalyst and setting up a network of Innovation Centres, which will address key challenges in this sector.

The overall objective of this work is to support UK companies to develop innovative solutions to improve the productivity of UK agriculture, reduce environmental impacts, improve security in the food supply chains and enhance food quality and attributes. Once we crack these solutions at home, UK firms will have solutions to sell this in global markets that will be experiencing similar challenges.

My role is to work with stakeholders to ensure that money is invested in innovations to benefit businesses and society.

On 5 October 2015, Innovate UK will open a competition to fund up to £10 million in collaborative R&D projects to enhance food and drink quality through the reduction of sugar, salt and fats and through increasing dietary fibre2. The aim of this competition is to stimulate the development of new processes and products that lead to the availability of healthier food choices for consumers and open up new market opportunities for the industry.

For more information on the competition please visit http://bit.ly/1FkpBvw

Foreword by Helen Munday Lead Technologist, Agriculture and Food Team, Innovate UK

2

The UK agriculture and food supply chain contributes £103 billion to the UK economy and employs 3.8 million people. Food and drink manufacturing contributes £26.5 billion, and is the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK; it has been identified by government as a target sector for export growth.

Global food demand is expected to grow by 60% by 2050, driven by population increases and the changing diets of the growing middle classes. These changing dietary preferences can also impact negatively on health, with concerns including obesity, high blood pressure and raised cholesterol. The health profession has specifically targeted the need to reduce salt, sugar and saturated fat in food and drink. In the context of preventing cancer, there are also concerns about a lack of dietary fibre. With diet-related chronic disease accounting for 9% of total NHS spend, public health campaigns will concentrate on influencing consumer behaviour and dietary choices.

Leading businesses recognise the need to proactively offer consumers foods that are more nutritionally balanced and, at the same time, appealing to modern tastes. This competition is designed to help industry to develop innovative products to meet and anticipate evolving consumer preferences, and to help the UK build on its reputation for safe and sustainable food production of the highest standard.

The market opportunity is broad, from niche health products to mass markets such as bread. We recognise that consumers fall into different demographic groups, influenced by a wide range of factors. For greatest economic impact, we are therefore looking for a breadth of projects, spanning a variety of food types, from improving heavily consumed, comparatively unhealthy foods to developing new, ‘healthier’ foods to meet increasing consumer demand.

Introduction

3

+60%Global

food demand

by 2050

The UK agriculture and food supply chain

£103bn to UK economy

Employs 3.8 million people

Contributes £26.5 billion

The UK has significant rates of obesity and overweight. In 2014 according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)3 almost a third of adults (28.1%) were obese and two thirds of adults were either overweight (Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 25 but less than 30) or obese (Body Mass Index of over 30) (63.4%4).

In addition, the prevalence of other diet-related illnesses is high. Linked to obesity are diseases including type 2 diabetes and cancer. Cardio vascular disease can also be linked to poor diets and includes coronary heart disease - the UK’s single biggest killer and responsible for over 70,000 deaths each year, while stroke causes more than 40,000 deaths5. In 2013, 6% of the UK population (more than 3.2 million people) were identified as having diabetes, of which 90% had type 2 diabetes6. Colo-rectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and women in the UK7.

Poor dietary habits are known to be a factor in all these illnesses8 through excess consumption of calories, salt, sugar and saturated fat and a lack of dietary fibre. These illnesses not only have a major impact on the lives of the individuals affected but they also have a significant impact on the health of the nation.

For example, obesity is a major burden on the UK’s economy, reportedly costing the country nearly £47bn a year9 and generating an annual loss equivalent to 3% of GDP. The current rate of obesity and overweight suggest the cost to the NHS could increase from between £6 billion and £8 billion in 2015 to between £10 billion and £12 billion in 203010.

Some estimates put the cost of diabetes to the NHS is over £1.5m an hour or 10% of the total NHS budget for England and Wales. In total, an estimated £14 billion pounds is spent a year on treating diabetes and its complications, with the cost of treating complications representing the much higher cost11.

When considering long-term conditions such as these, there are wider impacts other than how much it costs our health care system. They can have a knock-on effect on patients’ physical and mental health and the stability of their families. There are also additional costs associated with absenteeism from work and education, early retirement and social care.

Diets have an important role to play in health

4

36%Appropriate

Weight

35%Overweight

28%Obese

Dietary choices are highly complex. A wealth of academic literature has sought to find the ideal diet and evaluate other tactics to help us lose and maintain weight and be healthier. In addition, the UK government has introduced regulation restricting the television advertising of foods high in sugar, fat and salt to under 16s12.

Voluntary agreements between the UK Government and the food industry have been effective to some certain extent – for example, since 2011, food industry members have reduced the amount of salt in their products by 8%.13

It is clear from the research that no single action is likely to have a significant impact on our health. What is needed is total and sustained change14. Nutrition education and an acceptance of personal responsibility are also critical, as are actions that rely less on conscious choices by individuals and more on changes to their home and work environment. They can include reformulating products to be better for us, reducing portion sizes in packs, changing marketing practices, and restructuring our cities, work places and wider environment to encourage us to be more active15.

No single actor can tackle the impact of poor dietary habits alone — governments, food manufacturers and retailers, employers, healthcare professionals, educators and families must all be working in parallel. It is an enormous task. We also know however that small changes are more achievable for consumers and that there is evidence that the best approach includes small and achievable changes to people’s diets, especially when these are made over a period of time16. We need to make it easy for people to begin to travel in the right direction. If your regular afternoon snack is a packet of crisps, I may not be able to persuade you to swap it for an apple – but I may be able to convince you to try a slightly healthier packet of crisps. As an individual you may not switch from white bread to wholemeal but you might consider buying high-fibre white bread. A small change is easier to make than a big one and sets the individual off in the right direction. The healthier crisps or high-fibre white bread may eventually be swapped for other healthier foods. Therefore, one option could be to make packaged and pre-prepared foods better for you.

But how to change?

5

Other good reasons to invest in innovations in foodSpecific dietary issues Foods can be developed to respond to specific dietary issues in populations such as fortified foods and drinking water in specific countries and regions. For example, in some regions with high occurrences of dental caries, drinking water is fortified with fluoride.

Affordability We could make healthier foods more affordable to combat the link between low incomes and poor diets.

Oral Health Lower sugar food could also have a positive impact on oral health.

Meet demand The UK food industry would be better placed to respond to trends towards products with healthier ingredients, and consumer demand for better choices.

How to change?

What must innovation overcome?Reformulation is undoubtedly a challenging area for food scientists. Ingredients such as salt, sugar and fat play a role in the texture of food, its ability to sit on the shelf without deteriorating, its shape and size and in how consumers respond to the food – we are used to how foods taste and feel in our mouths. For example, there is currently no viable bulk sugar replacer in existence that could be used in biscuits, cakes and chocolate. While alternative sweeteners do exist, they do not have the bulk to replace sugar and alternative ingredients would have to be found to make up the ‘empty space’ in new recipes. By changing the formulation of some foods, they would become more fragile requiring additional packaging or making them un-transportable in large quantities. Consumer preference also plays a role in that we all have an expectation of what foods should taste like and any deviation from what is expected can leave consumers unsatisfied. Texture and consumer expectations are also a challenge when adding fibre to products.

Another reason that Innovate UK is interested in this field is showing food businesses how they can adapt and evolve in the face of some of the challenges that obesity and diabetes present. We would be happy to see how innovation can raise health issues on the agenda of food businesses both large and small and make responding to it achievable.

What role can the UK food and drink industry play?

• Public health policy and campaigners are calling for businesses to act more responsibly but there is also a wealth of opportunity to seize.

• A company which can develop innovations in this field and offer them to consumers as an attractive proposition will have a competitive advantage and make a contribution to reducing the burden on the UK as a whole from diet-related diseases.

• Industry-led approaches have distinct advantages - Smaller cost to public purse, no economic inefficiencies, faster response

6

Why is Innovate UK funding this work?We are keen to support a vibrant and thriving sector of British industry. The food business accounts for 16% of total manufacturing turnover making it the largest single sector. It employs 400,000 people and its Gross Added Value to the economy is £21.5 billion. This equals the contribution of the automotive and aerospace businesses combined. It is unique in that it contributes so much and yet 96% of companies in this sector are medium to micro-sized17. It is a sector that faces huge challenges and that we should be supporting and nurturing by funding innovation. Arguably it is a field where the UK occupies a leadership position that we wish to maintain. The UK food industry needs to keep pace and be able to compete in a challenging context.

The UK is home to many multi-national branded businesses where improvements developed for the UK could easily be transitioned to other global markets. And while the portfolio of products sometimes contains items that should only be consumed in moderation, even small changes within such categories could deliver a major impact to the national diet.

Individual companies have been attempting to improve the nutritional content of food for many years and a step change is required to overcome the technical barriers that can only be achieved by scale of effort and encouraging collaborative R&D in the pre-competitive space. Innovate UK is in a unique positions to be able to provide the funding and approach to facilitate this step change. The outcomes will then contribute to reducing the current diet-related diseases crisis.

Plus, new Public Health England guidelines on the roles of sugar in our diets have recently been published. Carbohydrates and Health by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN)18 calls to reduce free sugar intake to 5% of total daily energy intake whilst significantly increasing the intake of dietary fibre, which will be extremely challenging for both consumers and the industry.

• Current added sugar intakes are around 12% of energy intake for adults and 15% for children and teenagers. (Ref: NDNS, 2014)

• Population average saturated fat intakes are also above recommendations at 12.6% of energy compared to the recommended maximum of 11%.

• And despite significant progress in salt reduction, intakes are still above the recommended maximum of 6g salt per day at around 8.1g per day.

7

Conclusion

Innovate UK believes that healthier ingredients and packaged and pre-prepared foods have a part to play in improving our nation’s diet. This is not the entire answer to poor nutritional practices or the obesity epidemic but the companies that win funding and the innovations and healthier products that they develop will be part of the answer.

Competition details

Innovate UK is to invest up to £10 million in collaborative R&D projects to enhance the nutritional quality of food and drink through the reduction of sugar, salt and fats, and through an increase in dietary fibre.

The aim of this competition is to stimulate the development of new processes and products that lead to the availability of healthier food choices for consumers, and open up new market opportunities for the industry.

Proposals must be collaborative and led by a business, but may include research partners. We expect to fund mainly industrial research projects. Small businesses could receive up to 70% of their eligible project costs, medium-sized businesses 60% and large businesses 50%.

We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £250,000 to £1 million, although we may consider projects outside this range.

This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 5 October 2015. The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 25 November 2015.

There will be a webinar briefing for potential applicants on 14 October 2015.

Further information is available at the link below.

http://bit.ly/1FkpBvw

8

£10mTotal

Investment

to R&D projects reducing salt, sugar & fat and increasing dietary

fibre

In brief

Applications open 5 October 2015 Deadline 25 November 2015

Briefing webinar 14 October 2015

About Innovate UK Innovate UK works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will

grow the UK economy - delivering productivity, new jobs and exports. Our aim at Innovate UK – the government’s innovation agency – is to keep the UK globally competitive in the race for future prosperity.

About the Department of Health (DH) The Department of Health’s mission is to help people to live better for longer. DH leads, shapes and funds health and care in England. It is responsible for creating national policies and legislation on health and care, putting this at the heart of government and being a global leader in health and care policy.

Public health and prevention are priorities for the Department and for Public Health England. We want to help people to stay healthy, and protect them from threats to their health. The government wants everyone to be able to make healthier choices, regardless of their circumstances, and to minimise the risk and impact of illness.

DH champions innovation and improvement by supporting research and technology, and promoting honesty, openness and transparency.

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-agricultural-technologies-strategy 2 https://interact.innovateuk.org/competition-display-page/-/asset_publisher/RqEt2AKmEBhi/content/optimising-food-composition-fat-sugar-salt-and-fibre 3 WHO 2014. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A900A?lang=en 4 WHO 2014. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A897A?lang=en 5 British Heart Foundation, 20146 Diabetes UK, 20147 Cancer Research UK, 20148 Carbohydrates and Health, Scientific Advisory Committee on Health (SACN), 2015. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-carbohydrates-and-health-report 9 McKinsey 2014. http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Economic_Studies/How_the_world_could_better_fight_obesity 10 Ibid11 Diabetes UK 2012. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/cost-of-diabetes.html 12 Ofcom 2006. http://media.ofcom.org.uk/news/2006/new-restrictions-on-the-television-advertising-of-food-and-drink-products-to-children/ 13 FDF 2015.14 For example, EPODE. http://epode-international-network.com/ 15 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-obesity-environmental-factors 16 http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51467550_Reducing_the_population%27s_sodium_intake_the_UK_Food_Standards_Agency%27s_Salt_Reduction_Programme 17 FDF 201418 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sacn-carbohydrates-and-health-report

For media enquiries please contact us on 07766 901150 or email on pressoffice@innovateuk.gov.uk www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/innovate-uk

9