Ministers delay ban on multi-pack junk food by one year

[dragggonsden]

I'm pretty shocked at this headline this morning. Buy-one-get-one-free on junk food is set to continue for a year longer than planned because of the cost of living crisis. Don't ministers realise that shops use this as a loss leader, and that it therefore makes healthier food more expensive?

BBC News - Junk food: Ministers to delay ban on multi-buy deals
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61443047

They’re not always BOGOFs @mycatisannoying but the local freezer shop often has things like 4 packs chocolate bars for 99p or one for £1.20, 2 for £1 on fizzy drinks and the like.

Aah, gotcha. I think I took it a little too literally!

Processed food is without a doubt, detrimental to our health. We've been programmed to think that some shit food is a treat for us but it isn't. It's been processed to taste as delicious as possible so it may be a treat for our taste buds, but not a treat for our bodies.
We do need to look at obesity holistically and there is an interconnect between emotions, lifestyle and health. Stress may drive us to want to comfort eat and sit on our couch but eating more nutritionally and doing some exercise will help us cope better with stress.
I think there's a lot wrong with society and it makes me so angry that people are working hard and still unable to feed their families the quality of good that we need to thrive and stay in good health.
If the government are serious about tackling obesity, there are lots of areas to look at including the manufacturing of our food.

Banning stuff is a sign that you have run out of ideas. Stupid socialists tend to do this a lot. And this government has displayed a lot tendencies of incompetent and stupid socialists.
It’s better to invent your way out a problem. A bit like environmental advancements. But hey let’s leave the smart people to do the graft. Lifelong complainer and government can only manage the complaining and banning part.

I wish the government would bring in an outright ban on junk food. If people could only buy healthy food it would solve the National Obesity Crisis very quickly

Banning these deals will not make one jot of difference to the nation's waistlines.

There are far more important fish for them to fry at the moment, and I'd rather they spent their time doing that, than waste parliamentary time by adding more nanny-state nonsense.

Agree with this.

For many people living on the edge, a treat is literally ALL they have to look forward to/treat their DC to.

Of course this is one aspect of the obesity crisis in this country, but honestly if you are struggling financially or really having a bad time in life, being able to buy a bogof couple of packs of biscuits is a real pick-me-up (I've been there!).

If you think banning deals on junk food will
lead to a healthier nation you are very naive. The price of cigarettes has risen extortionately and yet the number of smokers hasn’t significantly reduced. It’s much deeper than that.

I think it does work, I was just in M&S and they used to have the Percy Pigs on two for £3 so I always bought two but now they appear to have dropped the promotion so I only bought one!

@GunsNShips the number of smokers is falling steadily year on year. It’s much less than say a decade ago.

Just to answer this quickly Ive taken to having low alcohol lagers in pubs or cafes if they have them, I dont have anything with sweetners in, so when out apart from water and tea (not overly keen on lots of coffee), I dont have a lot of options

We have far fewer smokers than we've ever had, in fact the tax take has gone down so much its having an effect on the NHS

I am pleased they have delayed it.

It's not my life now, but I do remember a time of counting out all my food money for the week in small change. I remember buying multipacks of Lidl Snickers and being so so glad for 500 calories in 100g.

Why are you championing the government tellings us what we can and cant do in micro detail?

if i want to buy 4 twirls for a quid then jfc i should be able to!

Supermarkets make huge profits and they don't do it by giving away food. Promotions are sales tactics used to sell more, so it's ridiculous to think that supermarkets are helping people with BOGOF crisps!

Child obesity is a massive problem. Particularly after the pandemic. The Govt needs to step in because food companies aren't going stop pumping out sugary fatty food - they make far too much money from it.

Are they also going to buy multipacks of things like chocolates, biscuits and crisps? It seems like a pointless exercise but even more pointless if they do that.

At one point in Tesco you could buy a single bag of M and Ms for 60p or three for £1.20. If that is banned then surely the easiest thing would be to go to the sweet aisle and buy a big bag instead.