Waitrose makes changes to 50 new products including soups, snacks and cereals (Image: Getty)
is making a major change across its UK stores to help shoppers make healthier choices more easily.
The giant, whose largest store is in Canary Wharf, London, now labels food products to highlight important nutritional information. But it’s a step up from the standard labelling, which denotes foods low in calories, saturated fats, or high in protein.
Shoppers will now find handy green stickers on items containing many plant varieties, including Waitrose’s brand cereals, soups, and snacks.
It is a move that should help customers eat a diverse diet, including 30 different plants a week—a dietary goal suggested in 2018 by the British and American Gut Project, run by the University of California San Diego in the US, and Dr Tim Spector of King’s College London in the UK.
They offered a new message: instead of “eat five a day,” they started saying “eat 30 plants a week.”
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The green stickers detail how many different plant varieties are in the product (Image: Waitrose)
The new ‘plant varieties’ logo represents a first for supermarket own-label products in the UK and will appear on over 50 new products, including fresh soups, snacks and cereal in January, and added to more products throughout the year.
Dr Joanne Lunn, Lead Nutritionist at Waitrose, said: “Eating 30 different plants each week is a delicious way to a healthier gut microbiome, taking advantage of all the nutritional benefits of different types of plants.
“Whether it’s mixing more different herbs and spices into your meals, snacking on mixed nuts or adding lentils into your bolognese sauce, there are lots of ways to reach 30 plants.”
Even fans of the Waitrose meal deal can make healthier choices thanks to the exclusive logo.
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Some products contain 10 different plant varieties (Image: Waitrose)
New high-protein salads have been added to the Waitrose . Shoppers can add a snack and a drink for just 25p, potentially saving up to £5.25.
This is the maximum saving when a high-protein salad is purchased with Waitrose High Protein Vanilla Yoghurt with Granola (£2.50) and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee (£3.00).
Meal-deal lovers will find the exclusive new High Protein Thai Style Prawn and Noodle Salad, which retails for £4.75 on its own, included in the offer. According to its logo, it contains an impressive seven different plant varieties.
A High Protein Naked Chicken Katsu and Rice Salad (also £4.75 on its own) boasts a staggering 10 different plant varieties.
Read meal items are labelled with the plant variety logo, including the Waitrose Indian-spiced Cauliflower, Charred Pepper and Lentils (£4.50).
Mediterranean Vegetables with Borlotti Beans and Feta (£4.50), a Spicy Edamame Salad (£2.95), and Green Vegetables, Quinoa, and Feta Salad (£3.50) also appear in the dinner lineup. As for snacks, the Spiced Butternut and Lentil Dahl Soup joins Beetroot Crispbreads with Mixed Seeds to offer plant-heavy snacks.
Researchers found that those who ate 30 or more different types of plants a week had a greater diversity of gut microbes on average than those who ate fewer than 10.
Plant foods that count towards your 30 a week include:
- Wholegrains
- Pulses
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Herbs
- Spices
- Coffee
- Tea
- Dark chocolate (with at least 70% cocoa solids)
- Extra virgin olive oil
Dried, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables have green lights, too, and they are handy and cost-effective ways to keep the variety up and reduce waste and cost. Even different types or colours of the same plant—yellow and orange peppers, for example—count as multiple varieties.