Supermarkets 'should list low fat items higher on their websites'

Supermarkets could help protect their customers from heart disease simply by changing the order food appears on their websites, research suggests.

A University of Oxford study found displaying low-fat produce at the top of the screen leads online shoppers to choose healthier options. 

Interventions which encourage us to add less meat, cheese and desserts to our baskets could 'shape healthier food choices', researchers claim.  

The study was led by Dr Dimitrios Koutoukidis, a researcher in the department of diet, lifestyle and obesity. 

'Finding effective ways of lowering the saturated fat in our shopping baskets, such as from meat, cheese, or desserts, may translate to eating less of it, which could help lower our risk for heart disease,' Dr Koutoukidis said.

'The findings could provide effective strategies to improve the nutritional quality of online food purchases.

'Online supermarkets could implement strategies knowing that they are potentially effective for lowering the saturated fat in their customers’ shopping baskets and thus shape healthier food choices.' 

The study comes as the Government is in the middle of attempts to tackle Britain's growing obesity and heart disease epidemic.

Politicians announced last year the Government was planning to force restaurants, cafés and takeaways to list calories on their menus in the hope of tackling childhood obesity. 

And since April 2018, soft-drink companies have been required to pay a levy on drinks with added sugar.  

To uncover whether supermarkets could also play a role, the Oxford researchers divided 1,088 volunteers into four groups.

All the groups 'shopped' for 10 common foods on a supermarket website that was specially created for the study. 

The first group's online store displayed foods that are low in saturated fat first.