SUPERMARKETS are twice as likely to promote junk food in stores as they are fresh fruit and vegetables, despite the obesity crisis in this country.

A survey by the National Consumer Council (NCC) found that, with the exception of Marks & Spencer, the leading food chains were offering double the number of deals on “fatty and sugary” foods than they were on fresh produce.

The picture was even worse at Morrisons, which had more than three times as many promotions for sweet and fatty food as for fruit and vegetables — 29 per cent to 9 per cent. At Somerfield the difference was four times as great — 31 per cent to 7 per cent.

At Marks & Spencer, however, 27 per cent of all promotions were for fresh fruit and vegetables, but this still fell short of the 33 per cent target set by the NCC, even though there were a total of 2,346 cut-price deals, usually “buy one, get one free” or multi-buy offers, at the nine leading chains.

The salt content in foods such as baked beans, cheese and tomato pizza, pork sausages, and salt and vinegar crisps was so varied that one set of choices could have 22 per cent more salt than another.

It is clear that supermarkets are now competing for custom on their health credentials. An NCC analysis put the Co-op at the top of its health-responsibility index. The chain sells the least salty pork sausages, which have half the salt content of the saltiest, sold at Iceland.

The Co-op also came out best for nutritional labels on food packs. It is the only company with a specific policy to promote healthy food in stores, and won top marks for answering customer queries.

Morrisons had the worst ranking. Its standard products were the saltiest across all ranges, there were no healthy eating leaflets and staff at a help desk could not answer most customer queries.

Tesco also performed badly, with a number six ranking. It showed only modest improvements in the salt content of products, and of 370 price promotions 35 per cent were for fatty or sugary foods and only 14 per cent for fresh fruit and vegetables. It also had the least helpful helpline of all the companies. It had, however, removed all unhealthy snacks from shelves near checkouts.

Ed Mayo, chief executive of the NCC, singled out Tesco for admonishment and said:

“We’re disappointed that the biggest supermarket — Tesco — is a laggard on health.”

The spot checks were made on nine flagship stores for each company in June and July.

CHECKED OUT

1 Co-op 6½/10

2 Marks & Spencer 6/10
Waitrose 6/10

4 Sainsbury’s 5½/10

5 Asda 4½/10

6 Tesco 4/10

7 Iceland 3½/10
Somerfield 3½/10

9 Morrisons 3/10

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