DHSC use of the term ‘minimally processed’

Response to this request is delayed. By law, Department of Health and Social Care should normally have responded promptly and by (details)

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information:

• Any emailed or written correspondence between DHSC and the Food and Drink Federation, or third parties acting on behalf of the Food and Drink Federation, between October 2022 and October 2023, pertaining to DHSC’s use of the term ‘minimally processed’.
• Any internal meeting minutes or emailed correspondence, within the same time period, pertaining to the decision to exclude the term ‘minimally processed’ from HFSS guidance (‘Restricting promotions of products high in fat, sugar or salt by location and by volume price’).

Yours faithfully,

Cathy Cliff

Department of Health and Social Care

This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Your correspondence is being handled by the appropriate team. 

If you have made an FOI request, DHSC is required under section 10(1) of
the FOIA to provide you with a response within 20 working days. If DHSC is
unable to do this, we will contact you nearer the time.

 

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Cliff,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1535267).

Yours sincerely, 

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

Thank you for your response to my Freedom of Information Request Reference FOI-1541528 on 31st October.

Responding to the points made in your letter, I'd like to clarify that yes, I am requesting correspondence specifically between the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and DHSC officials who worked on the implementation guidance for the Promotions Restrictions for products high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) between October 2022 and October 2023, where I referred to DHSC’s use of the term ‘minimally processed’.

FDF has publicly stated they played a role in having the words 'minimally processed' removed from the guidance. They say: "The FDF’s engagement with Department of Health and Social Care officials also resulted in the removal of the reference to ‘minimally processed’ in the HFSS promotions guidance." https://www.fdf.org.uk/fdf/about-fdf/rea...

Please disregard the request re 'third parties', and disregard the request re 'Any internal meeting minutes or emailed correspondence, within the same time period'. I would like to clarify that my priority is on emailed correspondence specifically between FDF and DHSC officials concerning the use of the term 'minimally processed'.

I look forward to hearing from you further.

Yours faithfully,

Cathy Cliff

Department of Health and Social Care

This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Your correspondence is being handled by the appropriate team. 

If you have made an FOI request, DHSC is required under section 10(1) of
the FOIA to provide you with a response within 20 working days. If DHSC is
unable to do this, we will contact you nearer the time.

 

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.