Calls are being raised to ban smoking bundle promotions under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which currently makes no provision to outlaw such promotions.
“Smoking starter packs”, where cigarette papers and filters are included with rolling tobacco in a three-in-one bundle, are being sold in four of the top five UK supermarkets, new analysis has revealed.
The bundles, designed to “lure” people into buying tobacco with a cost-effective deal, are stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons. Of the top five UK supermarkets, only Lidl doesn’t sell the three-in-one pouches.
Labour MP Dr Beccy Cooper called on smoking bundle promotions to be banned under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which currently makes no provision to outlaw the products.
“Smoking starter packs are irresponsible and dangerous marketing gimmicks designed to lure people into a deadly habit and keep smokers smoking. They have no place on supermarket shelves, or anywhere else”, the MP for Worthing West told The Grocer.
Dr Cooper MP, who sits on the Health and Social Care Committee, added: “Rather than turning a blind eye to cheap sales tricks encouraging people to light up, we need ongoing investment in smoking cessation support as tobacco consumption significantly impacts health inequalities.
“Passage of the Tobacco & Vapes Bill has the potential to be a watershed moment in public health, but it needs to go further to outlaw smoking starter packs and support the drive towards a smoke free UK.”
Former Green Party leader Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle echoed Dr Cooper’s call. She told The Grocer: “Permitting the sale of rolling tobacco bundles is totally inconsistent with the central ambition of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, yet as it stands the bill does nothing to prohibit these sorts of deals.
“We should not continue to allow cut-price tobacco packages aimed at enticing smokers - we should be helping them to quit.”
Tesco is stocking 30g pouches of Amber Leaf for £27.15, but for just 15p more consumers can buy the same rolling tobacco including papers and filters.
In Sainsbury’s, 30g of Amber Leaf can be bought for £27.95, but for a 3-in-1 pouch of the same tobacco it is only 15p more.
The same deal is available in Morrisons.
While in Asda, shoppers can buy a 30g pouch of Sterling rolling tobacco with papers, and for 5p extra they can get a pouch that includes filters too.
This comes, as independent research from University College London, released in July, found that in some areas of the UK smoking rates are going up for the first time in almost 20 years. It is unclear whether this is being fuelled by promotional bundle deals.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently going through parliament, will ban those born on or after 1 January 2009 from ever buying tobacco legally. It will also tighten regulations on vaping and nicotine pouches.