Health:Banning sweets at supermarket checkouts 'works'/Story: Little Red Riding Hood

Banning sweets at supermarket checkouts 'works' Researchers used data from 30,000 households to look at the year before and after bans were introduced by six out of nine major supermarkets. Purchases fell immediately after the bans and the reduction continued while the policies were in place. Ministers will soon consult on making it a mandatory ban in England. The nine supermarkets included in the study, which is published in PLOS Medicine, were Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose. Shoppers at the ones that removed sweets and crisps from checkouts bought almost a fifth less of the unhealthy products. Data from another 7,500 shoppers who recorded any food they had purchased at supermarkets to eat "on-the-go" rather than take home, showed an even bigger decrease. Lead researcher Dr Jean Adams, from the University of Cambridge, says that although the study cannot prove a causal link, it suggests changing where products are displayed does alter consumer habits. She said: "It's really heartening that small changes in supermarket layout could make such a difference and have an impact on people's diets." https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46591181 Story: Little Red Riding Hood. By Charles Perrault