Occasional treats or daily habits?
Every year, we set out with the best intentions. For many of us that means trying to eat better, move more and, ultimately, feel healthier. But good intentions don’t stand much of a chance when our everyday food environment is working against us.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) recently released a new paper on discretionary food and, in Scotland, the cakes, biscuits, chocolates, pastries, crisps and sugary drinks we tell ourselves are “just now and then” have quietly become part of our daily routine. Perhaps considered an occasional treat, they now make up around a third of our shopping baskets, adding roughly 260 calories to adults’ diets every single day. For young people, the picture is even starker.
This isn’t just about overindulgence. It’s about acknowledging when the occasional treat becomes part of our everyday diet without us noticing.
Our recent analysis shows that we buy more biscuits, cakes, confectionery and pastries than we report to eat. That gap matters. It means the impact of discretionary foods on our calorie, fat and sugar intake is likely underestimated, so we tend to buy more than we realise.
We know our diet needs to change, but is knowing this, enough?
Understanding is easy: Navigating the food environment isn’t
An FSS survey found almost half of adults in Scotland already know they’re eating too many treats. We know that awareness isn’t a barrier – the food environment is.
We live in a food environment overflowing with tempting brightly packaged products. Foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) are designed to catch our eye, placed strategically, promoted through deals and marketed in countless variation.
Just after New Year, I stopped at a shop for milk. Christmas had barely passed, yet I was faced with a wall of Easter treats alongside discounted festive ones. My simple errand to pick up some milk, quickly turned into milk and a treat for the road.
This isn’t due to lack of willpower. It’s the result of an environment engineered to nudge us towards HFSS foods at every turn.
Small swaps in a tempting world
However, the food industry also has a vital role in supporting healthier choices and new advertising restrictions on less healthy food and drink are a welcome step. Later in 2026, Scotland will also implement new restrictions on multi-buy offers such as ‘two-for-one’, unlimited refills on sugar-sweetened drinks and on the placement of pre packaged HFSS. As many ‘treat’ foods fall into this category, these measures aim to reduce purchases and support the Scottish Government public health priority that everyone in Scotland eats wells and has a healthy weight.
Alongside these measures reformulation by industry is an effective strategy for improving diets across Scotland. The Reformulation for Health programme supports businesses to reduce levels of fat, salt and sugar in their products, making everyday products healthier without compromising taste of convenience.
But while the food environment is changing, there is still a long way to go and making healthier choices can feel challenging especially when life gets busy or stressful. So, what about New Year, New Me? Big resolutions can feel motivating at first, but lasting change isn’t about perfection. It comes from small achievable steps repeated over time. Our online tool Eat Well Your Way offers personalised, simple, and practical tips to help you navigate today’s complex food environment, whether in the supermarket, in the kitchen or on the go. By focussing on achievable steps, we can all move towards building healthier habits to support our health and enjoyment.