Tesco bans sweets from check-outs

Sweets and chocolate at check-outs in every Tesco store will be removed by the end of the year, the retailer has announced. The move comes after the supermarket found nearly two-thirds of customers wanted confectionary removed from the till.

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Dr Aseem Malhotra from Action on Sugar welcomed Tesco's plan to ban all confectionary from their checkouts but "sugary drinks taxes" and bans on "junk food advertising to children" would need to be implemented in order to tackle obesity.

Tesco: 'We want to help customers lead healthier lives'

Tesco have banned sweets at the checkout because they "want to help our customers lead healthier lives", according to their chief executive.

Tesco head Philip Clarke said:

We all know how easy it is to be tempted by sugary snacks at the checkout, and we want to help our customers lead healthier lives.

We've already removed billions of calories from our soft drinks, sandwiches and ready meal ranges by changing the recipes to reduce their sugar, salt and fat content.

And we will continue to look for opportunities to take out more.

We're doing this now because our customers have told us that removing sweets and chocolates from checkouts will help them make healthier choices.

– Philip Clarke

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Sweets and chocolates banned from Tesco's tills

All sweets and chocolates will be removed from all of the checkouts in Tesco's by the end of the year, the retailing giant has announced.

Sweets and chocolates will no longer be available at Tesco checkouts from December this year. Credit: PA

Research by the supermarket found nearly two thirds (65%) of customers wanted confectionary removed from the checkouts so it would be easier for them to make healthier choices.

Sweets and chocolates would also be removed from areas adjacent to the tills - for example racks of sweets at children's eye level, a spokesman for Tesco confirmed.

Just over two thirds of parents (67%) told Tesco that confectionery-free checkouts would help them make healthier choices for their children.

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