The UK’s escalating reliance on unhealthy foods is draining £268 billion annually—a figure that dwarfs the entire NHS budget—according to groundbreaking research exposing the true cost of the nation’s diet.
The soaring consumption of high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar, and ultra-processed foods is wreaking havoc on public health and the economy. The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) has described the impact as “devastating,” warning that the UK’s current food system is not just failing to promote health but actively fuelling a crisis.
“Far from safeguarding our wellbeing, the food industry—dominated by so-called ‘big food’—is making us ill, and the costs of managing this illness are spiralling out of control,” the FFCC report states.
The £268 billion figure, drawn from the first comprehensive academic study into the economic impact of unhealthy diets in the UK, highlights the staggering scale of the crisis. Of this, £92 billion represents direct costs to the government, including £67.5 billion for the NHS, £14.3 billion for social care, and £10.1 billion for welfare programmes addressing diet-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and kidney failure.
An additional £176 billion accounts for indirect costs: £116.4 billion in lost productivity due to diet-related illnesses and £60 billion for “human costs,” including pain, suffering, and premature deaths.
“The sheer size of this figure is shocking. Even £268 billion is a highly conservative estimate,” said Prof Tim Jackson, an economist at the University of Surrey and author of the research. His findings underscore the urgency for political action, particularly for Labour leader Keir Starmer, who has vowed to tackle the country’s health crisis and rescue the struggling NHS. Labour’s proposed measures include banning junk food ads before 9pm and restricting energy drink sales to under-16s, but Jackson’s findings suggest bolder reforms may be necessary.
The research, featured in The Guardian is based on detailed analysis of government reports, international data, and think tank studies, highlighting how chronic diseases linked to poor diet burden the state and society. To adopt the healthy eating guidelines in the government’s Eatwell Guide, households would need to spend an additional £38 per week—equivalent to £57 billion annually. This would require the wealthiest households to increase spending by a third, but for the poorest, it would mean doubling their food budget, an unfeasible expectation amidst a cost-of-living crisis.
“This research lays bare a system where profits are privatised, but the costs of unhealthy food are dumped on society,” said Dr Dolly van Tulleken, a Cambridge University obesity expert. “It’s a damning indictment of three decades of government failure to regulate the food industry.”
Sue Pritchard, the FFCC’s chief executive, has called for sweeping regulation of food companies, accusing them of exploiting marketing, packaging, and engineered flavours to prioritise profit over public health. “Food companies have taken a fast track to big profits while sacrificing the health of their customers,” she said.
The FFCC is urging ministers to introduce policies to make healthy eating accessible, including vouchers for low-income households to buy British-grown fruits and vegetables and increased support for sustainable farming practices. These measures, Pritchard argues, are essential to reversing the damage caused by an unchecked food industry and to building a healthier, more equitable food system.
The £268 billion price tag is a wake-up call. Without urgent intervention, the cost of Britain’s unhealthy diet will continue to rise, leaving both the NHS and the nation’s finances in deeper crisis.
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