The Great Swapathon rip-off

 Shoppers need to spend over £100 for Change4Life vouchers

• £50 Great Swapathon vouchers require a spend of £117.05
• More than half the discount is already available without the vouchers
• In several cases, the Asda own-brand equivalent products are cheaper than the discounted branded products

Analysis published today by the Children's Food Campaign [1] shows that shoppers who want to cash-in the £50 of swap vouchers as part of the Department of Health-backed Change4Life anti-obesity campaign need to spend more than double the vouchers' value in order to redeem them.  Campaigners calculated that in order to make the advertised savings, made available from Wednesday through around one in ten Asda stores [2], shoppers would have to spend at least £117.05 with Asda, JJB Sports and WeightWatchers [3]. 

The group point out that over half of the savings come from a discount on signing up to a three-month WeightWatchers plan – which is available on the company's website even without the voucher [4].  Without this discount, which the “voucher” is simply advertising, the discounts available through the voucher books fall to just £24.25, which require a spend of at least £87.20 to redeem.  As a result, the much-promoted £250million savings claimed by the Department of Health fall to less than half this amount [5].

The group also point out that in several cases it would be cheaper to buy a non-branded version of the same product without the discount voucher.  For example, 500g Kellogg's corn flakes are £1.97 at Asda, reduced to £1.47 with the discount voucher, while 500g Asda corn flakes cost just 98p.[6]  In this case, the Asda product is also considerably lower in salt [7], overconsumption of which can contribute to high blood pressure, which is the main cause of strokes and a major cause of heart disease [8].

Christine Haigh of the Children's Food Campaign said:
“This analysis exposes the Great Swapathon for what it really is – a great marketing opportunity for the companies involved, but of little benefit to consumers' pockets or health.  Sadly, this attempt at promoting healthier products is dwarfed by advertising for junk food.  Until the government takes steps to address this, such as by protecting children from unhealthy food marketing, we're unlikely to see the UK shift from its unenviable position at the top of Europe's obesity league table.”

Ms Haigh continued:
“It's insulting that the government has taken free swimming away from children and now has the cheek to offer a one-off discount on the price of a single family swimming session.” [9]

Ends

For further information and interviews, please contact Christine Haigh or Charlie Powell on 0203 5596 777 or 07870 577934 (Christine), or email Christine@sustainweb.org.

Notes to editors:

1) The Children's Food Campaign wants to improve children's health and well-being through better food - and food teaching - in schools, and protecting children from junk food marketing. We are supported by over 150 national organisations. The Children's Food Campaign is coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming and funded by the British Heart Foundation. See: http://www.childrensfoodcampaign.org.uk/

2) The vouchers are available through 36 Asda stores – for details, see http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/great-swapathon-voucher-books.aspx.  Asda has 400 stores in the UK – see http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/employer/asda-stores-ltd/.  The voucher books were also available in the News of the World on 9 January, and some will be available through “Change4Life supporters in the community”.  For more information, see http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/MediaCentre/Pressreleases/DH_123214.

3) Based on prices for the following products available on the websites of Asda, JJB Sports and WeightWatchers on 11 January 2011:

Company	Product	Price (£)	Discount (£)	Discounted cost (£)
Asda	Healthy Choice pork escalopes*	2.80	1.00	1.80
Asda	King prawns (200g)	2.78	1.00	1.78
Asda	Golden Delicious apples (800g bag)	1.47	0.50	0.97
Asda	Clementines (1kg net)	1.25	0.30	0.95
Asda	Snack pack grapes (170g)	1.00	0.50	0.50
Asda	Baking potatoes (2.5kg)	1.84	0.75	1.09
Asda	Root vegetables (1kg)	1.00	0.50	0.50
Birds Eye (at Asda)	Green beans (750g)	1.75	0.50	1.25
Kellogg's (at Asda)	Corn Flakes (500g)	1.97	0.50	1.47
Nestlé (at Asda)	Ski yogurts (4x120g)	1.00	0.25	0.75
Unilever (at Asda)	Flora Light (500g)	1.38	0.40	0.98
Warburtons (at Asda)	Wholemeal medium loaf (800g)	1.35	0.30	1.05
Unilever (at Asda)	Hellman's Mayonnaise Light Jar (400g)	1.50	0.50	1.00
Nestlé (at Asda)	Pure Life Water (12x50cl)	2.29	0.25	2.04
Britvic (at Asda)	Robinsons No Added Sugar Squash (2L)	1.50	0.70	0.80
Britvic (at Asda)	Robinsons My-5 Fruit Shoot (4x200ml)	1.00	0.30	0.70
Molson Coors (at Asda)	Cobra Zero Alcohol Free Extra Smooth Premium Lager (4 pack)	2.03	0.50	1.53
Mars (at Asda)	Uncle Ben's Wholegrain Boil in the Bag rice (500g)	2.64	0.50	2.14
Nintendo (at Asda)	Wii Fit plus bundle	74.91	10.00	64.91
JJB Sports	Champion Jessy (Junior) canvas trainers**	5.99	5.00	0.99
WeightWatchers	3-month online plan	62.80	32.95	29.85
		TOTAL	57.2	117.05

Lowest priced product used where voucher can be used for one of several products.
*Based on 400g product
** A call to JJB Sports Customer Services department on 11 January confirmed that the voucher could only be used for products which cost “more than the value of the voucher”.

4) Details of the WeightWatchers promotion are also available on their website: http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/

5) Without the £32.95 WeightWatchers discount, the remaining vouchers are worth £24.25, so the total value of the five million voucher books made available is only £121.25million.

6) Asda freshly frozen green beans cost 89p, whereas Birds Eye green beans cost £1.75, reduced to £1.25 with the voucher.  Asda square cut wholemeal medium loaf cost 69p while Warburtons wholemeal medium loaf cost £1.35, reduced to £1.05 with the voucher.  All prices from Asda website on 12 January.

7) According to company websites, Kellogg's Corn Flakes contain 0.5g sodium (1.25g salt) per 100g; Asda Corn Flakes contain 0.3g sodium (0.75g salt) per 100g.  Asda square cut wholemeal medium loaf contains 0.37g sodium (0.9g salt) per 100g while Warburtons wholemeal medium loaf contains 0.43g sodium (1.08g salt) per 100g.

8) For more information about salt and health, see http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/salthealth/index.html

9) In June 2010 it was announced that a scheme to provide free swimming for the under 16s and over 60s would end.  For more information, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10343421.  One of the vouchers offers “up to 50% off the price of a family swim”.

10) In July, a coalition of 30 organisations concerned with children's health wrote to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley raising concerns about plans to increase the involvement of food companies in the Change4Life campaign.  For more information, see https://www.sustainweb.org/news/july_2010_lansley_childrens_health

11) In 2010, the Children's Food Campaign cited concerns about the involvement of Kellogg's and Nestlé in the Change4Life campaign after both companies' marketing activities were shown to directly conflict with key messages of the campaign.  For more information, see https://www.sustainweb.org/news/cocopops_ad/ and https://www.sustainweb.org/news/october10_nestle_breach_change4life/

12) Increased involvement of the food industry in the Change4Life campaign inspired a series of spoof posters, a selection of which are available at https://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/change_for_life