Fat chance! Could sweets in our checkout aisles be causing obesity?

“Stressed spelt backwards is desserts...coincidence?” Anon

We’ve all been caught out by them. We see them in the corner of our eye, glistening away and tempting us in.

They’ve got us exactly where they want us!

But could the days of sweets and sugary goods crowding our supermarket checkouts be coming to an end?

The government looks set to be urged to revisit proposals to ban these after a survey discovered more than 90 per cent of shoppers think it contributes to obesity.

A campaign called Junk Free checkouts was launched last month aiming to force supermarkets to stop selling sweets near the tills as 75 per cent of people admitted to giving in to their children’s pestering about buying junk food while they queue.

But at a time when competition between food suppliers is as rife as ever will the supermarkets and the sweet manufacturers not see this as a money spinning scheme being swept away from them.

Experts though are more sceptical, claiming that stocking the checkouts with sweets is a cynical ploy by the powers at be to tempt shoppers into buying sweets and other fatty and salty foods at the end of a tiring haul round the aisles.

Agnes Nairn, professor of marketing at EM-Lyon Business school said: “Consumers are more likely to go for something unhealthy when they are tired because they aren’t able to make the radical decision they would make otherwise.”

What are your thoughts on the placement of sweets in checkout aisles and do you manage to resist temptation? Would you prefer to see healthy alternatives such as fruit bars or salads or do sweets belong where they are?

Let us know by commenting below, get in touch on our Facebook page or Tweet us @speypuds.