Post by Mech on Jan 5, 2004 19:34:52 GMT -5
Loyalty cards may help switch to healthy eating
TOM CURTIS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
The Scotsman
www.news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=10662004
THE mass of information stored in supermarket loyalty cards could be used to persuade shoppers to eat more healthily.
Politicians and retail leaders have backed the idea of using the information stored by chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s to create a massive database on the UK population’s eating habits.
About one million Scots use loyalty cards which tell the supermarket everything a shopper buys at the checkout and how often.
It is not thought individual consumers will be targeted because of privacy and data protection issues, but the British Retail Consortium, which represents many of the biggest shop chains, has suggested it could work with government to tap into the resource.
Its food policy expert, Richard Ali, said: "What retailers are very good at is finding out what their customers want and anticipating their needs.
It might be that as a retail industry we can sit down with government and start to design the messages from the information that retailers have."
It is thought that would mean sharing food-buying trends with ministers who could then alter healthy-eating messages accordingly.
Christine Grahame, convener of the Scottish Parliament’s health committee, said: " Broader things could be done with this on eating habits, such as supermarkets using the information they have to advise the government on food purchasing trends in Scotland.
"You could compare the percentage spend on fruit and vegetables in one area compared with another, and target healthy eating messages based on that."
TOM CURTIS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
The Scotsman
www.news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=10662004
THE mass of information stored in supermarket loyalty cards could be used to persuade shoppers to eat more healthily.
Politicians and retail leaders have backed the idea of using the information stored by chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s to create a massive database on the UK population’s eating habits.
About one million Scots use loyalty cards which tell the supermarket everything a shopper buys at the checkout and how often.
It is not thought individual consumers will be targeted because of privacy and data protection issues, but the British Retail Consortium, which represents many of the biggest shop chains, has suggested it could work with government to tap into the resource.
Its food policy expert, Richard Ali, said: "What retailers are very good at is finding out what their customers want and anticipating their needs.
It might be that as a retail industry we can sit down with government and start to design the messages from the information that retailers have."
It is thought that would mean sharing food-buying trends with ministers who could then alter healthy-eating messages accordingly.
Christine Grahame, convener of the Scottish Parliament’s health committee, said: " Broader things could be done with this on eating habits, such as supermarkets using the information they have to advise the government on food purchasing trends in Scotland.
"You could compare the percentage spend on fruit and vegetables in one area compared with another, and target healthy eating messages based on that."
