“Supermarkets can be allies of public health,” supports the nutritionist Boris Hansel

The head of the Nutrition Prevention Unit at Bichat Hospital recalls that studies in behavioral sciences have shown that the provision of products in supermarkets strongly influences the choices of purchase of consumers.

“Supermarkets can be allies of public health”Salt Monday June 16 on Franceinfo Boris Hansel, nutritionist and head of the Nutrition Prevention Unit at the Bichat Hospital, also an animator on YouTube of the Pum channel (for better health), while Intermarché announced at the end of April testing the backlighting of candies at the checkout in several of its stores, an initiative hailed by the nutritionist.

“It’s a good idea to help the population limit these impulsive purchases”explains Professor Hansel, who highlights the importance of the food environment to fight junk food: “The idea is to help change behavior”.

“The food environment is the first lever to fight junk food.”

Boris Hansel, nutritionist

in franceinfo

“Supermarkets can be allies of public health, not just trade, by making sure that when you arrive at the funds, you are not tempted by taking something more,”, explains the nutritionist.

The specialist considers, however, that this measure could go further: “It is not only the boxes with the boxes, and probably it would be useful to take an additional step and to remove boxes from ‘chocolate bars'”, he suggests. For Boris Hansel, the fight against junk food requires a global approach. “There will not be a solution to fight junk food, there is a panel of solutions that must be implemented. We talked about Nutriscore a few weeks ago. We talked about the Soda tax too. We know that food checks for the most disadvantaged people for the purchase of fruits and vegetables are useful “, he lists.

The nutritionist insists on the key role of supermarkets: “We know scientifically speaking that the supermarket is a place where you can really do something to help families. Sometimes you just have to rethink the customer journey.” Studies in behavioral sciences have shown that the provision of products in supermarkets strongly influences the choices of purchase of consumers. “When you have food in another way in supermarkets, you change the purchasing behavior of families and in particular families with children who are most vulnerable in terms of salty sweet things”concludes Professor Hansel.