Supermarkets give a great deal of thought to the placement of products on display. Eye-level is said to be buy-level, a tenet highlighted at checkouts where shelves laden with chocolates and sweets present an open invitation for youngsters to demand a sugary snack while parents wait to pay.
Parents should, of course, resist such pleas. But when they are looking to exit the supermarket with as little fuss as possible, their level of resistance may be at a particularly low point.
Perhaps it is little surprise, therefore, that, according to an online survey, more than a third of New Zealanders want checkouts to be sugar-free. But why should supermarkets bow to this demand?
Sugar's association with obesity and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease has been common knowledge for many years, and it is hardly the supermarkets' role to dampen demand. Or to make customers feel better about themselves.
