UK shoppers have continued to opt for junk food over healthier choices including fresh produce, despite the government’s ongoing focus on tackling the obesity crisis, according to a survey by retail consultant Dunnhumby.

The four-year study, which monitored the food-buying patterns of 12 million consumers through the Tesco Clubcard scheme, showed that 44 per cent of shoppers have made no change to their eating habits in that period and only eight per cent have adopted a healthier diet.

The findings also appear to suggest that consumers need the traffic-light labelling system formulated by the Food Standards Agency to help them make healthier choices.

But the survey confirmed that there is little difference between in the cost of a healthy shopping basket and an unhealthy one, according to Dunnhumby. A typical healthy basket costs an average of £71.78 compared to £71.18 for an unhealthy one.

Martin Hayward, Dunnhumby director of consumer strategy, said: “Most of us are neither totally healthy nor totally unhealthy.

“We believe the distance between healthy and unhealthy eating is because people don’t know how to cook and have a ‘can’t cook, won’t cook’ approach, making them heavily reliant on processed foods and ready meals.”

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