New supermarket rules mean ‘buy one get one free’ deals are banned on common items in your basket
A GOVERNMENT crackdown on supermarket rules means that buy one get one free deals have been banned on popular items.
Customers will no longer be able to shop the promotion on good such as sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks.
The government measure, which came into force yesterday, has been under consideration for years, but faced delays due to the cost of living crisis.
Ministers believe the move will help tackle obesity amongst youngsters.
The new rules apply to big supermarkets, high street retailers and online shops.
And it also means that diners will not be able to get free refills on fizzy pop in popular chains such as Nando’s or Five Guys.
It will be followed by a ban on TV adverts before 9pm promoting junk food and a complete ban on online promotions in the new year.
The government has created a classification system to assess what food and drink is classed as unhealthy, based on products thought to play the biggest influence on childhood obesity.
This includes everything from soft drinks, chocolates and sweets, pizzas and ice creams.
Some porridge and sweetened bread products will also not be able to advertise before this time.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Obesity robs children of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems and costs the NHS billions.
“This government is taking action to end the targeting of junk food ads at kids, across both TV and online.”
It comes as the latest figures suggest one in 10 reception-aged children are now obese, while and one in five children are suffering from tooth decay by the age of five.
It is estimated that obesity costs the NHS more than £11 billion every year.
The Government has hopes the ad ban will prevent around 20,000 cases of childhood obesity.
According to the BBC, major supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco introduced their own restrictions some time ago.
Andrea Martinez-Inchausti, from the British Retail Consortium, told the outlet the “vast majority” of his members were already now compliant.
“There will not be a big change for them.
“Food retailers are supporting their customers to make healthier choices through better calorie labelling, reformulation of products, and portion control.”
How to save money on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
