Change4Life vouchers 'could make shopping more expensive'
The Government Change4Life campaign has come under fire, as new figures suggest shoppers need to spend more than £275 to cash-in their vouchers.
The Children’s Food Campaign also found that some supermarket own-brand equivalent products are cheaper than the branded products featured in the vouchers. For example, 500g Kellogg’s corn flakes are £1.89 at Asda, reduced to £1.49 with the discount voucher, while 500g Asda corn flakes cost just £1.18.
Change4Life is funded by the Department of Health and aims to encourage families to swap junk food for healthier alternatives, as well as boosting activity levels.
But the use of branded products in their shopping vouchers invariably means families may save money by shopping around, instead.
Kawther Hashem of the Children’s Food Campaign said: “Once again we see the Change4Life campaign being usurped as a marketing opportunity for the companies involved, offering little benefit to consumers’ pockets or health. We back doctors’ calls for tougher government action on obesity by protecting children from junk food ads and promoting traffic light labelling.”
