The food industry is battling to avert tighter regulation as the government’s crackdown on obesity trains an ever brighter spotlight on its activities.

In its attempt to strike a balance between defending its products and appeasing the healthy-eating lobby, the industry has come a long way since early 2005 when Sir John Sunderland, the chairman of Cadbury Schweppes, declared: “There is no such thing as a good or a bad food, only a good or bad diet.”