Mandatory vs voluntary regulation - what’s best for the food industry?

In the UK, around a third of the soft drinks market reformulated before the sugar levy even came into force. Most of the change happened in anticipation of the law, not in response to it. So does that prove mandatory regulation works?

The answer, according to the panellists in this session, recorded at the Food Matters Live event at London’s Olympia, is more nuanced than it first appears. 

Mandatory policies level the playing field and remove the competitive anxiety of going first. But our panelists all agree they only work if they're well designed, broadly applied, and given enough lead time for industry to respond. 

In this episode four specialists debate the policy landscape in the food industry right now and what it means in practice. 

They discuss nutrient profiling, GLP-1, new claims challenges, sugar levies and portion size reduction.

We also hear the case for the food industry to engage with regulators much earlier in the development process.

If this has whet your appetite for next year’s Food Matters Live events - you can already register your interest to partner with us in London and Rotterdam. Just head to foodmatterslive.com