The move comes after years of campaigning for change in the industry from BBC star Dr Chris van Tulleken
Tesco is introducing changes on the shelves(Image: Getty )
Tesco has announced a major change to its own brand products. The change comes as the industry faces calls to tighten up on so-called UPFs – with BBC star Dr Chris van Tulleken at the forefront of efforts to reduce the presence of such items on the shelves.
The supermarket giant says it has now banned or restricted 114 additives across its own-brand food and drink items. Tesco says its own-brand policy previously restricted the use of 65 additives, in order to try an simplify ingredients and respond to customer concerns around processed foods.
This number has now been increased to 114 with artificial colours, aspartame, and monosodium glutamate among the ingredients banned from Tesco’s own-brand range. Other additives are subject to restrictions and ‘prioritised for innovation’ and for further work with suppliers. The announcement comes as Tesco found that 80% of its customers are trying to cut down on ultra-processed foods.
Dr Chris is a vocal critic of UPFs and has written a book about them. In an interview in 2024, he said: “What we know about ultra-processed food from industry testimony and from experimentation is that the food is engineered to drive excessive consumption, and so not only are you eating food with more fat, salt and sugar, you’re also eating more of that food.”
The ingredient ban aims to ‘increase transparency’ around ultra-processed foods and allow customers to see simpler, more recognisable ingredients on the items they are buying. Head of healthy and sustainable diets at Tesco, Alice Ritchie, said: “Making healthy, sustainably produced food affordable and accessible for every household is a priority for Tesco.
“We are working hard to reformulate our products to make them healthier and more nutritious and we provide clear guidance to our Own Brand suppliers on the use of additives. As part of this, we’ve restricted the use of 114 additives in our Own Brand products.”
The retail giant says it has also added dietary and lifestyle filter on their website for online shoppers, which allows customers to filter for products without additives. Tesco has continued to reformulate its own-brand range of products by increasing ingredients including vegetables, protein and fibre, while reducing fat, sugar and salt.
It forms part of the supermarket’s continuing plan to encourage healthier diets. Tesco said 65% of its UK food sales are not classed as healthy, with the sale of fruit and vegetables having risen by 10% since 2022.
