Ban on sweets at supermarket checkouts
Comment:
The UK Government is being pressurised into banning sweets at supermarket checkouts to stop the obesity epidemic from spreading. In a survey 9 our of 10 people believed that seeing unhealthy snacks at the tills causes unnecessary impulse buying and excess calorie consumption.
A new campaign has been launched called Junk Free Checkouts to abolish selling sweets at supermarket checkouts. “Pester power” from children to their long-suffering parents to buy them would therefore become a thing of the past (as long as parents avoid other supermarket aisles selling sweets and unhealthy snacks). Marketing experts advise supermarkets to position sweets at children’t eye level to make them more accessible.
This campaign is the brainchild of the British Dietetic Association and the Children’s Food Campaign. Children are often targeted by sweet manufacturers with attractive packaging, freebie toys and special offers.
Back in 2003 the Food Commission launched an investigation on how supermarket sell sweets in their stores.
In 2003 the BBC reported that supermarkets were asked to stop selling sweets at checkouts after pressures from the Food Commission (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3203055.stm).
Supermarkets that year found a legal loophole to avoid the ban by using festivities like Christmas to legitimately sell chocolates and sweets near the tills.
In 2012 the Children’s Food Campaign accused not only supermarkets but also newsagents and other non-food retailers of obstructing parents’ healthy eating education for their children by displaying unhealthy foods by the checkouts.
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