Campaigners say cigarette-style warning labels should appear on everyday foods

Health campaigners say that everyday foods should be given clear warnings in the form of cigarettes, new taxes should be imposed on salty products and sponsorship of sporting events with unhealthy foods should be banned to reduce the rising number of deaths from heart disease.

These “bold” measures should be imposed as part of a determined drive to reduce the number of people dying prematurely from heart attacks and strokes, they said.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is also proposing other measures to tackle the UK’s increasingly poor diet, including a ban on junk food companies advertising on billboards or radio.

The charity is urging the government to force the food industry to make its products more nutritious by removing the often high – but hidden – amounts of salt and sugar that are harmful to health.

According to the BHF, taking such radical measures could reduce the number of deaths from heart disease in people in England before they reach the age of 75, and save as many as 11,000 lives a year by 2035.

Cardiac deaths have risen since 2019-22, after falling for 60 years before that. A total of 39,000 people in England died before their 75th birthday in 2022 – the highest number since 2008.

The charity’s request follows Keir Starmer’s statement last week that his administration is prepared to take strong action to tackle deep-rooted public health problems that cause illness, disability and death, such as banning smoking in certain outdoor areas.

The BHF is asking ministers to require food manufacturers to put clear warnings on cans, bottles and tins of their products to alert people to the health risks.

Those labels should be mandatory because simply asking profit-driven food companies to voluntarily reformulate their portfolios to make them healthier – the approach taken by Conservative governments between 2010 and July this year – does not work, the charity said.

The proposed ban on sporting events for companies whose products are considered unhealthy would mean, for example, that energy drinks such as Carabao would no longer be allowed to put their name to the English League Cup, McDonald’s would no longer be allowed to sponsor the English Football Association’s youth football development programme, and KP Snacks would not be allowed to be an official team partner of the Hundred Cricket competition.

“The government must be ambitious about improving everyone’s health and implement the measures we know work. A new salt and sugar levy could prevent almost 2 million cases of chronic disease and also raise up to £3 billion a year,” the BHF said in a 22-page action plan. The sugar tax, introduced on soft drinks in the UK in 2018, has made many drinks healthier and improved children’s health.

The charity is also advising ministers to extend a planned ban on junk food advertising shown on TV, billboards and radio before 9pm, and to ban the ‘buy one, get one’ offers in supermarkets that have been experimented with by recent governments.

Bite Back, the campaigning arm of chef Jamie Oliver’s organisation, backed the BHF’s call. “Big challenges require bold solutions and we need this government to step in and introduce tough rules that ban the predatory marketing tactics of big food companies for unhealthy products,” said James Toop, the chief executive. “These measures must make it easier for everyone to be healthy and protect young people from the heart statistics of the future.

“Food packaging is incredibly misleading, so we also need to ensure that companies use clear front-of-pack labelling and are not allowed to label unhealthy products with misleading health and nutrition claims,” he added.

According to the Food and Drink Federation, food and drink manufacturers agree that strong action is needed to tackle poor diets and obesity, which causes cancer, diabetes, joint problems and heart problems.

“Companies have invested more than £160m since 2023 to create healthier food and drink, reducing calories, sugar and salt and adding fibre, fruit and vegetables, as well as launching new products and smaller portion sizes,” a spokesperson said.

But not only industry, but also healthcare providers and the third sector must be involved, according to the federation.

The Department of Health and Social Care declined to comment directly on the BHF proposals, saying any changes to the tax regime were a matter for the Treasury. A spokesman said: “Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest killers in this country and this Government has already taken steps to tackle it, recognising that prevention is better than cure.

“As part of this, we have recently introduced workplace health checks to detect illnesses earlier. We expect to conduct up to 130,000 additional health checks by March 2025.

“We will also introduce a bill on tobacco and e-cigarettes, with which we want to tackle the harmful effects of smoking.”