Updated 3.17pm

A MOVE BY Tesco to stop selling sweets and chocolates at shop checkouts has been welcomed by government.

Minister for Health James Reilly has said that he hopes it is first step towards other shops taking similar steps.

“The retail sector can play an important role in building a healthier Ireland, not least through supporting our efforts to address the consumption of top shelf food products, such as sweets and chocolate, but in supporting healthier diets overall,” Reilly said in a statement.

He added that he would encourage other shops to follow Tesco’s lead.

Tesco announced that this morning that there will not be chocolates or sweets in the vicinity of tills in the retailer’s stores.

Food safety watchdog safefood also welcomed the decision, saying it is a “powerful recognition of how ‘pester power’ and impulse-buying affect the food choices we make every day”.

Musgraves said that it already recommends that Supervalu stores give customers the choice of using “sweet-free checkouts”, some of which are already offered in stores.

Originally posted 2.12pm

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