Restricting the promotion of high fat, salt and sugar foods: implementation guidance - Annex 4: the 2004 to 2005 nutrient profiling model

The nutrient profiling model (NPM) was developed by the Food Standards Agency in 2004 to 2005 to provide Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, with a tool to differentiate foods on the basis of their nutritional composition in the context of television advertising of foods to children. The NPM technical guidance 2011 sets out how to calculate the NPM score for different products.

From July 2017, following public consultation, the Committee of Advertising Practice introduced HFSS or ‘less healthy’ rules that aligned non-broadcast advertising (including print, cinema, online and in social media) with broadcast advertising.

The nutrient profiling model uses a simple scoring system where points are allocated on the basis of the nutrient content of 100g of a food or drink. Points are awarded for ‘A’ nutrients (energy, saturated fat, total sugar and sodium) and for ‘C’ nutrients (fruit, vegetables and nut content, fibre and protein). The score for ‘C’ nutrients is then subtracted from the score for ‘A’ nutrients to give the final nutrient profile score.

The 2004/04 NPM technical guidance is clear when the NPM should be calculated for a product on an ‘as sold’ basis. In most instances, the NPM score will need to be calculated for products ‘as sold’ rather than as consumed. Where a product needs to be reconstituted before it is eaten, for example custard powder, the NPM score should be calculated based on 100G of the product as reconstituted according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The onus is on the retailer to evidence compliance. If retailers do not have all the information required to calculate the NPM scores of their products and it is not available to them through other methods, retailers may choose to approach manufacturers to request it. They may also calculate the nutritional values based on generally established and accepted data. In the UK, “generally established and accepted data” can be found in a book from McCance and Widdowson, The Composition of Foods, or online in McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID).

Where enforcement officers require access to this information as a means of assessing a business’ compliance with the Regulations, the Regulations provide enforcement officers with powers of entry, which include the ability to inspect any records (in whatever form they are held) relating to a food business. They may therefore request records which are held by a retailer.

Example 1: schedule 1 food and non-schedule 1 food packed together

If a prepacked product contained a scone and jam (the scone being in scope of schedule 1 under the morning goods category, but jam not falling under any schedule 1 category), both the scone and the jam would be treated as schedule 1 food for the purposes of determining whether the prepacked product is specified food and the NPM score would need to be calculated for the product as a whole.

If the whole prepacked product has an NPM score of 4 and above, then it would be subject to the promotions restrictions (but also to any relevant exemptions).

A pre-packed curry dish and pre-packed rice side dish may be packaged together in a single outer package as a ready meal falling under schedule 1. If the nutrition information is provided for the product as a whole (for example, main and rice combined) as it is intended to be consumed together, then for the sake of pragmatism the NPM score should be calculated on this basis.

However, if nutrition information is provided separately for the individual components of the ready meal, then the NPM score should only be calculated for the component within scope of schedule 1 of the regulations. If this component scores 4 or higher in the NPM, then the entire ready meal is within scope of the restrictions.

Example 2: prepacked schedule 1 food and prepacked schedule 1 food packed together

In the case where 2 or more schedule 1 foods are prepacked separately but then combined together in a single outer package, for example, granola with sweetened yoghurt, there may be a mix of schedule 1 foods.

If either the granola or the sweetened yoghurt has an NPM score of 4 or above, then the whole prepacked product would be subject to the promotions restrictions (but also to any relevant exemptions).

Example 3: hampers and platters containing schedule 1 food and non-schedule 1 food

Products that are composed of multiple prepacked items, all packaged together and sold as one product may be in scope of regulations if at least one item is a specified food.

If any single item in the hamper or platter has an NPM score of 4 or above and meets all the criteria for specified food, then the entire hamper or platter is to be treated as specified food. This means the hamper or platter would be subject to the promotions restrictions (but also to any relevant exemptions). In other words, each product is assessed individually to determine its NPM score and whether it is specified food.