This voluntary commitment will be praised in an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons tomorrow. The proposed scale and pace of the move is unmatched by any other European retailers or manufacturers.
As part of EU efforts to tackle food-related health concerns the European Commission wants retailers to reduce or remove trans-fats but, in a contradictory move, it is taking legal action against the Government of Denmark for restricting trans-fats in food products there.
Despite being at odds with EU healthy food objectives, European rules mean the Danish initiative is an illegal free-trade restriction, because it hinders suppliers from other member states selling products containing trans-fats in Denmark.
BRC food policy director Andrew Opie said: 'With the commission's laudable objectives on healthy food and free trade in conflict, the UK Government risks being embarrassed by its own legislative impotence. But, by acting voluntarily, BRC members are showing that responsible retailers can cut through to achieve major change faster than any legislation.
'This is the latest in a string of healthy food initiatives and shows BRC members, responding to customer concerns, are willingly delivering a scale and pace of change way beyond anything retailers or manufacturers are doing anywhere else in Europe.'
Other action by UK retailers to promote healthier lifestyles includes the development of healthy balanced ranges and clearer labelling.
The commitment to remove trans-fats has been made as part of the EU Obesity Platform which, established in 2005, is a task force of regulators, retailers, manufacturers and non-Governmental organisations.
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