UK's Sainsbury's: Too soon to assess impact on food demand of new weight-loss drugs

It is too early to assess the impact on UK food demand of new appetite-suppressing, anti-obesity drugs, the boss of Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest supermarket group, said on Thursday. But he said the group was watching the issue "very carefully". He said Sainsbury's had always stood for promoting and encouraging healthy eating.

It is too early to assess the impact on UK food demand of new appetite-suppressing, anti-obesity drugs, the boss of Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest supermarket group, said on Thursday. Walmart said last month it was seeing a slight pullback in U.S. food consumption when people took weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, sparking a sell off in shares of food makers.

"It is a little too early to comment on the impact of these drugs, particularly in the UK where they've only just become available," Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts told reporters after the group published first half results. But he said the group was watching the issue "very carefully".

He said Sainsbury's had always stood for promoting and encouraging healthy eating. "We're very confident in the range of products that we sell and we've got a very big focus on healthy sales," he added.