Should supermarkets be socially responsible? Not long ago we were all bashing Macdonnalds for selling high fat high salt and sugar junk foods. Macdonnalds responded by offering carrot sticks or fruit with their Happy Meals and a whole host of other more healthy options. But really, who goes to Macdonnalds for a healthy option? I know I don’t. I happen to like the occasional Macdonnalds burger and fries. Notice I said occasional. We are talking once every two or three months. It is a treat we all enjoy but we arn’t under any illusions about the food.

Supermarkets on the other hand have the capacity to sell us a wide variety of foods, some of which make the most outrageous health claims. How about Asda’s “Good for you” range of low fat but unfortunately high in refined carbohydrate products? They are not “good for us”  at all. You could possibly argue that they are not quite as bad as the full fat version but quite frankly that isn’t true. The refined carbs in these products are more fattening than the fat they replace because of the way carbohydrate is metabolised by the body!

So do Supermarkets need reining in? Why is it that most of the buy one get one free offers are mostly on junk food?  Why do supermarkets still place sweets at child level at the checkouts? How can we as consumers take back control?