Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 January 2026

Correspondence from UK Hospitality- Follow up from 3 Dec session

Summary

UKHospitality responds to the Health and Social Care Committee's December evidence session on food and weight management. The organisation outlines hospitality sector efforts on menu healthiness, portion control, and reformulation, while arguing that cumulative regulatory burden—especially on small businesses (90% of the sector)—hinders growth. UKHospitality calls for flexible mandatory health reporting and greater hospitality representation in food policy forums.

Key findings

UKHospitality member companies invest significantly in nutrition initiatives including menu design promoting healthier choices, portion size reduction, and reformulation to lower calorie, salt, and sugar content.
Over 90% of the UK hospitality sector comprises small businesses that struggle with cumulative regulatory burden despite support for the Government's Regulatory Action Plan.
UKHospitality has met with government and shadow ministers 21 times in the past year on food-related issues, but only once with DHSC officials on mandatory food reporting.
No hospitality representation currently exists on the food strategy advisory board; UKHospitality has requested inclusion to ensure full supply chain representation.
Reformulation in hospitality differs from retail: it involves kitchen-level ingredient changes responding to supply chain volatility, increased fibre and vegetables, and targeted portion sizes linked to food waste reduction.

Tone

Procedural

Topics

public-healthfood-standardsbusiness-regulationhospitality

Key actors

Layla Moran MP, UKHospitality, Health and Social Care Committee, Jim Cathcart, UK Government, DHSC (Department of Health and Social Care)

Notable line

“It is important that upcoming mandatory health reporting recognises this and allows businesses the flexibility to report in a way that reflects their business operations.”

Key Quotes

“Often specific regulation is manageable in isolation, but it is the cumulative burden of overall regulation which hinders growth.”
— Jim Cathcart, Policy Director, UKHospitality · describing challenges for small hospitality businesses

“It is important that upcoming mandatory health reporting recognises this and allows businesses the flexibility to report in a way that reflects their business operations.”
— Jim Cathcart, Policy Director, UKHospitality · on the need for flexibility in health reporting requirements

“… reformulation in the hospitality sector is much less formulaic than in a retail setting – in hospitality this often includes changing specific ingredients within the kitchen environment”
— Jim Cathcart, Policy Director, UKHospitality · explaining how hospitality approaches menu reformulation differently

“… there is currently no hospitality representation on the food strategy advisory board, which we have asked Government to resolve to ensure the complete supply chain is fully represented in discussions.”
— Jim Cathcart, Policy Director, UKHospitality · identifying gaps in policy representation

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗