Supermarkets must not cut back on basic ranges amid a cost-of-living crisis or or a healthy ageing crisis will follow, according to think tank The International Longevity Centre UK (ILC).
This comes as, in recent months, supermarkets have slashed the number of low-cost and basic price-locked food ranges by as many as 100 lines.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also revealed inflation hit a 40-year-high with average food prices have increased by almost 10%,
As a result, the think tank warns that this could be a “disaster” in the coming months, as UK households are “already squeezed” amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
READ MORE: Cost of living: Should supermarkets be stepping in where the government has failed?
It said cutting access to affordable, nutritious food will not only place added financial pressure on already struggling households but further deepen health inequalities and hamper healthy ageing.
“Nutrition is the building block of health and healthy ageing. As more and more households are struggling to put food on the table, it’s simply unacceptable that access to healthy, no-frills ranges is being cut back,” ILC retail impact fellow Alisa Forbes said.
“We already know the cost-of-living crisis will have long and lasting impacts on people’s finances, it shouldn’t also cost people their health and deepen health inequalities.”
“Supermarkets and other retailers have a responsibility to keep us healthy and support healthy ageing. This isn’t just a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have. By 2040, 63p in every pound could be spent by older households, but we know that poor health is one of the key barriers to spending.”
“In this ever-deepening cost of living crisis, we look to supermarkets to re-instate these sustaining food lines, so that people are not denied nutrition, due to cost and lack of choice.”
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