The index was unveiled in a special issue of the Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions B, as part of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) five-year, £47.5 million Transforming UK Food Systems (TUKFS) programme.

The UK food system faces major challenges, rising diet-related disease, the cost-of-living crisis, climate change and biodiversity loss. The Sus-Health Index offers a practical tool to help consumers, businesses and policy-makers make food choices that are healthier and more environmentally friendly.

Professor Paul Brereton, Director of Strategic Alliances at the Institute for Global Food Security and School of Biological Sciences, said;

“It is great to see this index published. It was co-designed with a range of representatives from industry, policy and consumers. We are currently testing its impact on consumer choice in a range of restaurants in the UK and Europe. Although this aspect of the Sus-Health project was led by the School of Biological Sciences, it also involved academics from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s Management School and the Centre for Public Health.”

The Sus-Health project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and is a collaboration between Newcastle, Queen’s and Northumbria universities, aims to assess whether a single combined label, using a simple A–E, traffic-light style rating, can guide consumers towards meals that are more nutritious and environmentally friendly.

Researchers worked with industry, policy makers and consumer groups to co-design the index, which draws on:

·         the UK Nutrient Profiling Model to capture nutritional quality; and

·         the European Food Environmental Footprint Single Index to capture environmental impact.

The result is a single, colour-coded score, ranging from dark-green ‘A’ (best) to dark-red ‘E’ (worst), that can be applied to foods or meals.

The Sus-Health Index is one of 27 evidence-based actions highlighted in the UKRI programme to transform the nation’s food system, alongside measures such as healthier high-fibre school breakfasts, expanding healthy-food voucher schemes and reducing the carbon footprint of hospital meals.

Professor Guy Poppy, Director of the UKRI Transforming UK Food Systems programme, said:

“Food is at the heart of our health, our environment, and our economy. These recommendations show the UK can act now, with practical steps that make food fairer, greener and more resilient. Getting food right can help address some of the biggest challenges of our times: increasing productivity, reducing climate change and tackling obesity”

Read the ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B’ special edition

Professor Paul Brereton

Institute for Global Food Security

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