We prioritise health
Danone’s mission is to bring health through food and drink to as many people as possible. We have taken the decision to build a health-driven portfolio through our categories: Dairy and Plant-based products, Waters and Specialised Nutrition.
OUR HEALTH COMMITMENTS
IN THE UK & IRELAND
As part of our promise to consumers to prioritise healthy products, in 2023 Danone UK & Ireland launched new health commitments across its dairy, plant-based and beverages portfolio.
Danone UK & Ireland has committed:
- That at least 90% of our portfolio of products by sales volume will not be high in sugar, salt or fat (HFSS), defined by the UK Government’s current policy and legislation relating to HFSS.
- That, additionally, at least 90% of our portfolio by sales volume will be rated as “healthy” – receiving a score of at least 3.5 stars out of 5 – within the Health Star Rating index. The international index assesses the overall nutritional profile of packaged food and provides a quick, easy, standard way to compare foods.
- To never produce a product for children which is high in sugar, salt or fat (HFSS), defined by the UK Government’s current policy and legislation relating to HFSS.
As part of these commitments, we have also confirmed our intention to implement clear, consistent front of pack nutritional labelling in line with future UK and Ireland legislation.
HEALTH STAR RATING
Our mission to “bring health through food to as many people as possible” goes hand to hand with our Danone Impact Journey(DIJ) ambition and our global “Société à Mission” commitment to promote healthier choices and offer tastier and healthier food and drink to consumers.
The objective of Health Star Rating (HSR) system is to rate the nutritional value of food products to help consumers making informed choices in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.
At Danone, since 2019 we have decided to voluntarily provide additional information on our products by means of the internationally recognized/government-endorsed Health Star Rating system. We also use this as a reference for our formal external reporting and our commitments and policies:
As a listed company in France, we report yearly with the French Financial Markets Authority our nutritional performance against the Health Star Rating system (Cf.: Universal Registration Document (URD) and Integrated annual report),
As part of the global Danone Impact Journey, we have set targets for the healthiness of our portfolio. By 2025 we aim to have ≥ 85% of our portfolio sales in volumes rated ≥3.5 stars or more by the Health Stars Rating system*.
We use the Health Star Rating system to frame the Danone Policy on Marketing to Children.
Danone only makes nutrition and health claims on products that score ≥2.5 stars by the Health Star Rating system.
The Health Star Rating system has been developed on the UK’s Food Standards Agency Nutrient profiling model supported by the independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). Health Star Rating has been selected by the Global non-profit Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) as one of the main Global Index used to report about the nutritional performance of products portfolios. Health Stars Rating system takes into account the energy, saturated fat, sodium and total sugars content along with fruit and vegetable content, dietary fiber and proteins of food to rate products.
Reflecting our Danone Impact Journey health commitment to increase transparency around nutrition and enable consumers to make informed decisions, we have now decided to make this important information available online as well.
*This does not apply to our specialised nutrition products
SUGAR REDUCTION
In the UK, we work towards the Government's nutrient reduction targets, including sugar reduction. We have reduced the sugar content in our yogurts by 16% since 2015 compared to a 14% reduction achieved across the whole yogurt category.
Our Specialised Nutrition consumer portfolio (which includes infant formula milks and complementary foods) has also undertaken extensive reformulation projects. We have worked hard to lower the naturally occurring sugar content of our baby cereal portfolio, supporting parents in encouraging their babies to develop a taste for balanced food options. We’re proud of our progress in reducing sugar and we will continue to innovate and create better products that offer healthier alternatives.
A RESEARCH-LED APPROACH TO HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVES
In 2023 Danone unveiled its new international Daniel Carasso Research & Innovation Centre in Paris-Saclay to accelerate research on the future of nutrition.
The cutting-edge research centre will be dedicated to the development and innovation of nutritious, delicious, sustainable products across our dairy, plant based and waters categories.
With world-class researchers in life sciences, fermentation, intestinal microbiota, nutrition and health, the centre includes laboratories and pilot production sites to trial small-scale production of prototypes.
The centre also employs experts in consumer experience and social sciences to help us understand consumer needs and behaviours, as well as specialists in product design and packaging to focus on new solutions.