Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK.
Centre for Food Policy, University of London, City St George's, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
BMC Med. 2024 Nov 6;22(1):514. doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03720-5.
As part of the UK government's obesity strategy, the Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 were implemented in October 2022 to restrict the prominent placement of products high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) in most retail settings. Local authority (LA) officers have been tasked with enforcement of these regulations. This qualitative study examined the perspectives of LA officers including, trading standards, environmental health, and public health officers to understand enforcement approaches and requirements to optimise business compliance with the regulations.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted via MS Teams with a purposive sample of LA officers across England. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
The 22 participants comprised 13 officers from Trading Standards, six from Environmental Health, and three from Public Health teams. The key messages include the following: (i) the regulations are complex and do not align with existing enforcement approaches, (ii) officers' professional background will result in variable enforcement practices, and (iii) compliance assessment is an arduous task. LAs are facing resource and workforce constraints and have to prioritise regulations addressing high health risks (e.g., allergens). Therefore, officers will mostly apply a light touch approach to enforcement, raising awareness and engaging with businesses rather than issuing notices. To develop a consistent enforcement approach across LAs, officers asked for (i) further leadership from central government in the form of funding, training, and tools to determine in-scope businesses and products, (ii) cross-departmental collaboration to raise the regulations' priority at local and regional levels, and (iii) greater consumer demand for healthier retail environments.
It is crucial to address both structural challenges such as resource allocation, workforce, and prioritisation issues as well as the inherent complexity of the regulations to strengthen enforcement efforts. Our findings highlight the necessity of supporting enforcement activities at national and regional government levels to avoid potential false conclusions about ineffectiveness of regulations.
作为英国政府肥胖战略的一部分，2021 年的《食品（促销和陈列）（英格兰）条例》于 2022 年 10 月实施，以限制高脂肪、高糖或高盐（HFSS）产品在大多数零售场所的突出陈列。地方当局（LA）官员负责执行这些规定。这项定性研究调查了 LA 官员的观点，包括贸易标准、环境卫生和公共卫生官员，以了解执行方法和要求，使企业优化遵守这些规定。
通过 MS Teams 对英格兰各地的 LA 官员进行了半结构化访谈。使用归纳主题分析对数据进行了分析。
22 名参与者包括来自贸易标准的 13 名官员、来自环境卫生的 6 名官员和来自公共卫生团队的 3 名官员。主要信息包括以下几点：（一）这些规定很复杂，与现有的执法方法不一致；（二）官员的专业背景将导致执法实践存在差异；（三）合规评估是一项艰巨的任务。地方当局面临资源和劳动力的限制，必须优先考虑解决高健康风险的法规（例如过敏原）。因此，官员们将主要采取轻触式执法方式，提高认识并与企业接触，而不是发出通知。为了在各个地方当局建立一致的执法方法，官员们要求（一）中央政府提供更多的资金、培训和工具，以确定适用的企业和产品，（二）跨部门合作，在地方和地区层面提高这些法规的优先级，（三）消费者对更健康的零售环境有更大的需求。
解决资源分配、劳动力和优先事项等结构性挑战以及法规固有的复杂性至关重要，以加强执法力度。我们的研究结果强调了在国家和地区政府层面支持执法活动的必要性，以避免对法规无效性产生潜在的错误结论。
