Danone backs mandatory health reporting with voluntary UK NPM score
Key takeaways
- Danone has voluntarily published its average NPM score for its 2025 UK dairy, plant-based, and beverage sales.
- The company highlights that average NPM scores differ from binary HFSS status.
- Danone has published its overall score before the planned mandatory reporting.
Ahead of planned mandatory reporting, Danone has voluntarily published an Average Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) score of -0.09 across its 2025 UK portfolio. The score covers Danone’s UK dairy, plant-based, and beverage sales, and appears in the company’s 2025-26 “UK & Ireland Impact Journey Progress Update.”
The same update notes that 98% of Danone’s UK product sales by volume in 2025 were not classified as High Fat, Salt, and Sugar (HFSS) under UK government policy. Additionally, Danone has reported voluntarily on the healthiness of its portfolio since 2023.
The company states that the new -0.09 figure builds on those existing voluntary metrics.
Richard Hall, VP and general secretary at Danone North Europe, points to transparency as a public health tool.
“At a time when the UK faces significant health challenges, greater openness helps create accountability, build trust and provide a clearer understanding of the role food businesses can play in supporting healthier diets and influencing positive health outcomes,” says Hall.
Inside the NPM score
Under the current NPM, foods scoring 4 or above and drinks scoring 1 or above are classified as “less healthy.” That threshold underpins the government’s HFSS classification. Danone’s NPM portfolio scope covers dairy, plant-based, and beverages.
Danone says the Average NPM offers a more granular measure of nutritional quality than the binary HFSS classification, and the company says it views the nutritional quality of its portfolio as a critical measure of success. The -0.09 figure is calculated using 2025 data against the current 2004/05 NPM.
The UK government has committed to introducing mandatory healthy food sales reporting for large food businesses as part of its “Fit for the Future: The 10 Year Health Plan for England” plan. A group within the Food and Drink Federation has pledged to publish healthy food sales data based on the current NPM during 2027.
Danone North Europe is part of that group, alongside Carlsberg, Britvic, KP Snacks, Nomad Foods, and Premier Foods, and Danone says the moves are welcome steps toward greater transparency and consistency across the industry.
Richard Hall, VP and general secretary at Danone North Europe.
“For many years, we have chosen to report beyond mandatory requirements in the UK and the voluntary publication of our Average NPM score is an important next step in that journey, reflecting our support for the importance of measuring and sharing progress on health within the wider industry,” Hall says.
From reporting to reformulation
Danone says the reporting runs alongside its recent product changes. The company says it completed a reformulation of its core Actimel range in the past year, cutting sugar in the products by 9%.
Recent launches and reformulations include Danone Skyr, which the company describes as naturally high in protein, 0% fat, and a source of calcium; and Alpro Meal to Go, a plant-based ready-to-drink range providing 20 g of plant protein per bottle, as well as fiber, omega-3, and vitamins and minerals.
However, Hall says that reporting alone is not enough.
“Transparency must be matched by action, which is why we invest in reformulation and innovation, continuously strengthening our portfolio so that healthier choices become the easier choices for consumers,” Hall concludes.
