The BDA recently sent a letter to Louise Haigh MP, encouraging the Government to consider nutritional adequacy and equity in national household resilience and food preparedness guidance.
To increase preparedness to national emergencies and severe climate events, the Government recently shared guidance advising the public to keep emergency stores of food and water.
Whilst we welcome this pro-active approach to safeguard national resilience, we encourage the government to ensure that this guidance is grounded in robust nutritional science and public health equity.
In our letter to Louise Haigh MP, we share our concerns that the advice to stockpile foods is not equitable and that those who are more food insecure may need additional support.
Additionally, the guidance lacks detail on how to achieve nutritional balance with long-life or shelf stable foods. We encourage the Government to also provide examples and suggestions of balanced food options, so that households can consider and plan meals that suit their individual needs and preferences. Without this information, there is a risk of households acquiring high salt, fat or sugar products, which can exacerbate chronic conditions.
The advice to ‘stock up on long-life foods’ also fails to consider those with clinical or specialised diets, such as infants requiring specialised formula, people with food allergies and patients reliant on nutritional supplements or enteral feeds. With some forms of essential nutrition being made on prescription, we would also welcome the development of a medicine resilience plan.
With our food system already facing increasing pressures from extreme weather events and geopolitical shocks, we are ready to support the Cabinet Office in developing guidance and protocols that ensure a healthier, more resilient UK.
You can view the full letter to Louise Haigh MP, here.
We’re pleased to see that dietitians have been commenting in recent news coverage examining the new stockpiling guidance. Below are some articles where BDA members have offered their expertise:
- BBC – with comment from Rebecca McManamon.
- The Independent – with comment from Bahee Van de Bor
The BDA is also joining over 100 food system leaders in calling for a Good Food Bill that makes food a national priority, alongside energy, health and defence. You can read more about this here.