The criteria used for this reporting was developed in collaboration with nutrition experts and used to help identify healthy choices across the Sainsburys estate.

In recent years several new nutrient profiling approaches that have been developed which, when coupled with updated food regulations, external reformulation targets and the expansion in product innovations e.g. plant-based foods, has meant the approach used by Sainsbury’s required updating.


A new approach to defining healthy choices

In 2020, we undertook an extensive piece of work to review the nutrition criteria used to define healthy sales. The new criteria takes a category-specific approach based on existing and well-established external nutrient criteria. It is not a new model in and of itself.

The approach aims to help us identify better choices within categories for both branded and own-label products, along a spectrum from less healthy to most healthy. This will help us track shifts in sales for internal purposes. It will also be used to help inform the mix of products that feature in any trials and customer initiatives. The decision tree which supports this new approach is shown below and is supported by more detailed criteria that we will be integrated into our internal systems. This new approach aims to reward products for meeting the following criteria:

• Number of red multiple traffic lights
• Public Health England reformulation criteria for sugar and salt
• Portion size (where appropriate)
• Regulated levels for certain nutrition claims
• Favours products included on the Eatwell Guide

 
As a result, products that count towards healthy sales volume for Sainsbury’s will always:

• Provide a source of positive nutrition relevant to the core foods group from which it derived
• Meet key reformulation targets
• Have no red traffic lights (unless naturally occurring)

Our interactive decision tree for foods, beverages and composite foods supports our approach and is supported by more detailed criteria that we will be integrated into our internal systems. Suppliers can also access extra resources and further support on our Together With website.

For reformulation targets, we have applied the sales-weighted average as a hard target. We recognise this is not precisely how the Government targets were intended to be applied and is not a perfect solution. 

The approach is likely to evolve as Government priorities and criteria also evolve, but also as we improve the quality of our branded product data and learn about how the model works in practice too. 

We recognise our approach does limit the comparability against other retailers’ reporting and commitments which are based on ‘HFSS’ measurements. As well as additional reporting on HFSS measures, we have produced a report to highlight how the FSA/Ofcom model and the Sainsbury’s Healthier Choices model compare, to increase confidence in our internal health rating system.