Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Aldi quizzed by Health Committee on unhealthy food
Representatives of the big four supermarkets will be questioned by MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee about the role they can play in promoting healthier diets.
Meeting details
The cross-party Committee will ask what lessons can be learnt about supermarkets’ existing efforts to use price and promotions to drive sales of healthy foods, as well as how they promote products that are high in fat, sugar or salt.
In 2023 to 2024, 64.5% of adults in England were estimated to be overweight or living with obesity, according to government research. This was up from 2022 to 2023 (64.0%). There are also significant variations between regions in England, and between men and women.
The witnesses from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Aldi and Asda will be asked about differences in the price of healthier and unhealthy foods, and about the Government’s recently announced Healthy Food Standard.
MPs will also seek to understand the role of consumer behaviour and profit in decisions supermarkets make and what policymakers could learn from existing efforts of supermarkets.
This is the fourth evidence session of the Committee’s inquiry into food and weight management. MPs have been examining treatments offered to those who are living with excess weight, including the challenges and opportunities weight loss medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro present to the NHS and to individuals. They will also consider how injections compare to other treatments and programmes, including cost-effectiveness.