Consumption. Seven associations accuse supermarkets of encouraging the purchase of junk food.
Seven associations accused major supermarket chains on Wednesday of "selling off" consumers' health and pushing them "to buy unhealthy foods."
Promotions for junk food and healthy products that remain expensive: seven associations are sounding the alarm. Foodwatch France, the Climate Action Network, France Assos Santé, the French Federation of Diabetics, the Confédération Syndicale des Familles, the National Union of Family Associations, and the National Collective of Associations for the Obese have scrutinized "nearly 5,000 food promotions" implemented by the five largest retailers between February and March 2025.
"There is no longer any doubt: in supermarkets, promotions that are supposed to help you save money are mainly pushing you to buy unhealthy foods," warn the associations, according to which "two-thirds of promotions (66%) concern products that are too fatty, too sweet, too salty." Carrefour, Coopérative U, E. Leclerc, Intermarché and Lidl "claim to be allies of 'healthy eating' all year round, but in practice, they go against their commitments," deplores Audrey Morice, spokesperson for the NGO Foodwatch.
Carrefour and Intermarché defend themselvesThe Mousquetaires group (Intermarché) claims that it offers "promotions on all the products popular with (its) customers" and adds that the latter "benefit from a 10% reduction on the entire fruit and vegetable section every weekend."
For its part, Carrefour "contests this study point by point as far as it is concerned," asserting that it has "made the food transition for all its raison d'être." "On average, in a hypermarket, 30% of our promotions apply to healthy products (fruits and vegetables, soups, canned vegetables, nitrite-free products, etc.)."
According to the associations' survey, "only 12% of promotions focus on healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables or legumes, and the French do not consume enough of them," indicates the survey, which is based on the recommendations of the National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS).
Benoît Granier, from the Climate Action Network (RAC), insists on the "harmful" nature of this over-representation of unhealthy products among the discounted products , because "promotions could be used to encourage consumers to eat healthier instead." The associations also deplore the fact that "too many promotions encourage over-consumption by buying in large quantities" because according to them "40% of promotions" suggest buying products that it is recommended to "strongly limit according to health recommendations," such as cold cuts, ready meals made with red meat, or sugary drinks.
This imbalance in the quality of products on sale leads Audrey Morice to say that there is a form of "two-speed market," with on one side "the least healthy products at knockdown prices," and on the other "healthy products at a premium price." In their press release, the associations call on major retailers to guarantee "at least 50% of promotions on quality products at affordable prices."
At the beginning of May, another study, conducted by the Climate Action Network, already called out major retailers for their "delay" in the food transition, and highlighted that "major retailers, through their power over the upstream sectors as well as over consumers, have an important role to play" in "access" to "healthy" and "sustainable" food, the NGO insists in its report.
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