Tesco and Sainsbury's to ban buy-one-get-one-free deals on junk foods

Tesco and Sainsbury's are to axe "buy one, get one free" promotions on junk food and drinks from this autumn.

The supermarket giants will withdraw the deals - despite the Government delaying its crackdown on high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products until October 2023.

The retailers will no longer display unhealthy foods - like crisps and chocolate - at checkouts, store entrances and aisle ends.

According to the Government, these steps aim to tackle childhood obesity, and officials hope to put healthy snacks to be at the forefront of store advertisements.

The rules were meant to come in place in October 2022 but they have now been delayed by one year, the Mirror reports.

TV advertisements on junk food will also be banned before 9am from January 2024 as part of the obesity crackdown.

Tesco UK and Republic of Ireland CEO Jason Tarry said: “Our mission is to make Tesco the easiest place to shop for a healthy, more sustainable basket – while keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check.

“It’s vital that we keep making the right calls on behalf of customers and communities. Customers are telling us they want to eat a more healthy, sustainable diet, but without having to stretch the weekly shopping budget.

“We agree and, thanks to our laser-focus on great value, customers won’t need to make that compromise at Tesco.”

Sainsbury’s chief marketing officer Mark Given said: “We are committed to continuing to follow the government’s original HFSS promotional timelines and call on the rest of the industry to do the same.

“In 2016 Sainsbury’s became the first major supermarket in the UK to remove multibuy offers in favour of lower regular prices.

“We know our customers in communities across the country are a facing a cost-of-living crisis and want to continue to provide healthy, nutritious food for their families.

“Sainsbury’s is dedicated to making healthy choices more affordable and over the last year nearly 60% of our promotions were on healthier or better for you choices.”

Last month, Kellog's confirmed it was launching legal action against the Government as the new obesity rules would stop some of its cereals being displayed prominently in stores.

Kellogg's argues that the restrictions fail to consider the nutritional value of the milk added to its products.

It says adding milk would reduce the proportion of sugar and salt content in relation to the overall weight of the serving.

The changes to how food is advertised has also seen Nando's confirm a huge change to its refillable drinks station.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.