FOOD companies are preparing for a new battle with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) over the need to cut fat and sugar from staple products.

Just a year after the confrontation over reducing salt in food, the watchdog is hoping to tackle the national obesity crisis by targeting fat and sugar content in food.

Industry groups fear that the FSA wants to move the goalposts so far that products sold as low-fat versions in a range of food would in future become the standard lines on sale in supermarkets.

After last week’s report from the Department of Health, which revealed that Britain is the fattest nation in Europe, with one in seven children and almost a quarter of adults clinically obese, ministers seem certain to support the agency’s proposals.

Key food sectors are expecting to receive instructions to reformulate their recipes to lower the number of calories. Meat industry chiefs have already been told privately that the agency expects lower fat in pork pies, other meat pies and sausages. Dairy chiefs have also been urged to re-examine the fat content of milk, butter and cheese.

It was suggested informally, for example, that the fat content of semi-skimmed milk could be cut from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent. But under existing EU rules fat a 1 per cent fat content cannot be marketed as semi-skimmed milk.

All fat content is laid down by European regulations, suggesting that the agency is ready to raise its game and take on Brussels to demand lower specifications for a range of key products.

The agency has already asked each food sector to supply details of the fat and sugar reductions it has already achieved in products and to outline areas where more may be possible.

Officials working under the direction of Rosemary Hignett, the agency’s head of nutrition, are now compiling a new fat and sugar reduction consultation paper, which is expected to be published before the end of the year.

Details are still sketchy, but an agency spokeswoman said: “All options are under review including legislation and reformulation of recipes.”

The Times has also learnt that the agency is conducting national research to gauge the attitude of consumers to compulsory fat and sugar reductions.

Industry figures are resigned to a confrontation between the industry and government scientists over what is technically feasible in products. Health campaigners are expecting companies to resist change.

Jane Landon, deputy chief executive of the National Heart Forum, said: “Food companies are already competing with each other on their ‘better for your health’ ranges, which are usually more expensive than standard ranges. We don’t think they will easily give up on this market and will be keen to keep the differential.”

The extent of nervousness among leading manufacturers was signalled yesterday when the Food and Drink Federation pre-empted the consultation by declaring that £1.5 billion had already been spent on recipe reformulation to remove transfats.

These are fats linked with high levels of cholesterol in blood which can lead to high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease and strokes.

Ed Komorowski, technical director at Dairy UK, said that the dairy industry had already responded to consumer demands and was offering a full range of products from low to full fat, which were clearly labelled and offered choice.

He said: “We say we have already delivered plenty of choice within legal constraints. The FSA seems to want low-fat versions to be standard products but we don’t know how it would work.”

Maurice McCartney, director of the British Meat Processors Association, confirmed that he had been asked to look at lower fat reformulations for sausages, meat and pork pies.

He said: “We want to stay open-minded and we are considering commissioning some research to see what is achievable. However, we don’t think much more can be done to fresh meat as most of it is sold trimmed or is trimmed by consumers anyway.

“We know that some people will not compromise on taste. We are also trying to tell the FSA that if we remove fat it may end up in a cheaper and more harmful product somewhere else in the food chain.”

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