Tesco chucks junk off the checkouts

The high-street supermarket Tesco has today announced, following new customer research, that it will remove sweets and chocolates from checkouts across its full range of stores.

Ben Reynolds of the food and health charity Sustain said, “We applaud Tesco for joining Lidl in chucking junk food off the checkouts. Our Children’s Food Campaign, working with the British Dietetics Association, has been campaigning for junk-free checkouts for years. Parents will be delighted to hear that they will no longer be pestered for fatty, salty and sugary snacks whilst queuing at the checkout in their local Tesco. We are still waiting for the Government to come up with a new plan to protect children’s health by controlling unhealthy food marketing, after the collapse of their ‘Public Health Responsibility Deal’. So supermarkets will have to step up to fill the policy gap. Both Tesco and Lidl have chucked junk off the checkouts following surveys with their customers showing that this move would be popular and not affect profits. We urge all supermarkets will now follow Lidl and Tesco’s lead, and realise that taking action to improve children’s health is not something to fear."

Ben Reynolds continued, “This is a useful step to making healthier food the easier option. But the question remains, will it be enough to curb the huge rise in diet-related disease facing us in the UK? We think that supermarkets have an even greater role in tackling health problems, by re-examining the unhealthy balance of all of their promotions, making these reflect a healthier balance of foods, and offering good deals on more of the healthier options.”

Linda Hindle from the British Dietetic Association said, “This announcement from Tesco is warmly welcomed and goes to show they are listening to what the British Dietetic Association, in partnership with Sustain’s Children’s Food Campaign, Junk Free Checkouts, has been highlighting that parents don’t want this pressure to buy food high in fat and sugar at the checkout."

“The ‘pester power’ at retail checkouts can lead to unplanned calories and contribute towards poor diet and health, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes, which can be life changing and life limiting. It can also contribute to tooth damage."

“By making this announcement, Tesco is demonstrating real leadership to the other major retailers and we call on them to establish ‘Junk Free Checkouts'!”

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Background

• Lidl removed unhealthy snacks from all checkouts at all of its stores, in January 2014 [read the story]
• Researchers at the University of Sheffield find that 90% of food displayed at supermarket checkouts was unhealthy [read the story]
• Supermarkets rebel over potential government restrictions to in-store marketing and resist call from health campaigners to remove temptation from the tills [read the story]
• Sustain's Children's Food Campaign, working with the British Dietetics Association, launched the Junk Free Checkouts campaign in September 2013 [read the story]
• In 2012, the Children's Food Campaign named Asda, Morrisons and Iceland as the "worst offenders" for undermining children's health, by promoting junk food at the checkout [read the story]
• Find out more about the Junk Free Checkouts campaign at: www.junkfreecheckouts.org