The NGO Foodwatch demands, in a petition, “100 healthy foods at cost price in supermarkets”

Foodwatch denounces “the opacity of the prices of our food and the abusive margins on products essential for health, such as fruits and vegetables”

“Let’s demand 100 healthy foods at cost price in supermarkets”launches, Friday October 31, Foodwatch in a petition published on its websitebecause “in supermarkets, too often, the healthiest products are also the most expensive“, criticizes the NGO.

Foodwatch denounces “the opacity of the prices of our food and the abusive margins on products essential for health, such as fruits and vegetables”. The retail giants “are on the front lines of this intolerable situation”, continues the NGO which reminds “that the five main brands, E. Leclerc, Intermarché, Auchan, Carrefour and Coopérative U, control 80% of the food market”.

“For two years, each time we have carried out an investigation, we have shown that there is an excess margin on the healthiest products such as organic products or fruits and vegetables”laments Karine Jacquemart, general director of Foodwatch, interviewed on France Inter.

Everyone “knows public health recommendations by heart”writes Foodwatch, “Eat five fruits and vegetables a day”, “favor whole grains”, “cook at home” Or “consume organic products”. In reality, “too few people in France can afford to follow this public health advice”regrets the NGO. However, we know that when we eat healthily every day, we reduce “the risks of preventable diseases linked to diet” what are “diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers”. Eat healthy “should not be a luxury for anyone”.

“When we are told that there is a hole in social security, it is totally scandalous because it is avoidable,” argues Karine Jacquemart. “We still need to implement the policies that Foodwatch calls for all year round”namely “ban substances dangerous to health”. She points “additives based on nitrite, for example, and other contaminants” Who “create diseases from scratch that are preventable and cost billions of euros.” “This has to stop”annoys the general director of Foodwatch. Rural Families, Foodwatch and Catholic Relief “therefore require a simple and urgent measure: requiring large retailers to sell at cost price (without margin) 100 food products based on the recommendations of the National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS)”.

This list “brings together everyday consumer products” as “fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables, cereal products such as pasta, flour or bread, but also for example eggs, dairy products and fish, as well as ingredients for home cooking”, like butter, sugar or spices. This list “contains a significant proportion of organic foods, and also aims to promote products of French origin“. The director of Foodwatch calls for this list of 100 products good for health to be included in law so that distributors are subject to sanctions if they do not play the game. An open letter was also sent to Roland Lescure, Minister of the Economy and Serge Papin, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Purchasing Power.