The UK’s largest local government pension scheme (LGPS) is among a group of more than 20 institutional investors urging the country’s government to follow through with a plan to introduce mandatory healthy food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector.
In a statement, the investors flag poor diets as one of the leading risk factors for preventable ill health in the UK, saying they pose “significant risks for businesses, investors and the wider economy”.
They said they strongly welcomed the UK government’s commitment, in its 10-year plan for the national health service, to make mandatory healthy food sales reporting for companies and to set targets to increase the healthiness of the sales.
The investor group is coordinated by NGOs ShareAction and The Food Foundation, which coordinates an Investor Coalition on Food Policy.
Investors in a ShareAction healthy food programme have spent years pushing companies like Tesco, Unilever and Nestlé to improve how they report on and increase the healthiness of their food sales, but feel that progress has been “slow and uneven”.
“We believe mandatory measures are now essential to level the playing field and support a shift towards healthier product portfolios across the industry,” the statement read.
“This will also provide investors with consistent and comparable data to assess companies’ impacts on health, and to guide funding allocation decisions and support stewardship activities.”
Managing $1.33trn (€1.14trn) in assets, the 23 investor signatories of the statement include Greater Manchester Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, Brunel Pension Partnership and NEST, alongside asset managers such as BNP Paribas Asset Management and Mirabaud.
The group is requesting to meet with government officials to discuss further details of the plan in the coming months.
It argues that by setting a clear standard based on robust metrics and ambitious targets, the UK has the opportunity to set a precedent for other countries, contributing to growing international momentum towards a healthier and more transparent global food system.
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