Nesta, the innovation foundation behind the government's healthy food standard, has accused ministers of "sleepwalking" into an obesity disaster, saying a "lack of political leadership" has allowed the policy to drift for more than a year.

The policy would require large food businesses to report on the healthiness of what they sell and then meet mandatory targets to sell healthier food. It was announced as part of the 10 Year Health Plan for England in July 2025 and confirmed in December, with an industry-wide consultation promised for the spring. In an intervention published on 2 November, Nesta said that consultation still had not been launched.

"It's been 464 days since the policy was announced and we're nowhere near it being implemented," said Lauren Bowes Byatt, Nesta's director of healthy life. "Where is the political leadership on this?" she asked.

Nesta's criticism followed a report by the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee last week, which warned that the government's "moonshot to end obesity" was "doomed to fail" unless the prime minister took personal charge of the strategy. The committee said it had "no faith" in ministers to deliver the 10 Year Health Plan as promised.

Nesta's own modelling suggests the policy is the single biggest lever available. Setting health targets for the 11 largest grocery retailers, using a sales-weighted average nutrient profiling score set just above the current best performer, could cut obesity rates by a fifth. Nesta estimates adult obesity would fall by 20% and childhood obesity by 23%, meaning around 400,000 fewer children living with obesity.

The foundation argues the targets should cover the largest retailers because they supply more than 80% of the calories people consume, and should also apply to large out-of-home food businesses to create a level playing field. One year of reported data is needed before targets can be set at the right level, so Nesta warns that delaying the consultation beyond Christmas risks running out of time to introduce targets within this Parliament.

The call is backed by parts of the food industry as well as health groups. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda are among the large businesses that have called on the government to bring in the policy, and Tesco has described mandatory reporting on health as one of the most important policies needed to tackle the challenges facing the UK's food system.

Ms Bowes Byatt warned that piecemeal measures would not be enough. "If we keep relying on piecemeal policies, we will sleepwalk into a future of poorer health and soaring NHS costs," she said. She pointed out that there have been more than 700 obesity policies in the last 30 years, while obesity rates have doubled over the same period.

"Whatever way you cut it, there is no way to achieve the moonshot without high-impact policies," she added. "Of the measures in the 10 Year Health Plan there is only one that gets you anywhere near close and that is the healthy food standard." Nesta is now urging the government to open the consultation on mandatory reporting immediately.