Question reference: S5W-26753
- Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 18 December 2019
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Current status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 January 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the evidence cited in the 2017 University of Stirling report that was prepared for Food Standards Scotland, Identifying and Understanding the Factors that can Transform the Retail Environment to Enable Healthier Purchasing by Consumers, specifically shows that restricting or banning (a) multi-buys, including meal deals, buy one get one free and three for two offers, (b) free products or free samples, (c) the sale of unlimited amounts for a fixed charge, such as unlimited refills, (d) upselling, (e) physical or electronic coupons, (f) purchase rewards, such as toys, vouchers, loyalty card points, reduced price for another product or competition entry, (g) checkout, end-of-aisle, front of store or island/bin displays and (h) the promotion of value, will result in healthier diets.
Answer
The report examines the factors that might transform the retail environment to enable healthier purchasing by consumers. The focus is on the in-store food retail setting and the interactions of consumers and retailers. Specifically the report has two aims: (1) to provide an assessment of the evidence base on retailing practices, generating an overview of how food and drink retailing currently works in Scotland; and (2) to provide recommendations for possible measures applying to retailers to change consumer behaviour towards purchasing a healthier diet.