Major supermarkets are making a huge change to a product most people add to their shopping trolley every single week - but it’s all for a very important cause. Asda, Waitrose, Morrisons and Tesco have become the latest chains to pledge an update to their toilet roll packaging in a bid to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer.
The move comes after Bowel Cancer UK has called on supermarkets to add the little-known facts and stats to their own-brand packaging, following an idea from a Marks and Spencer employee.
The idea originated from M&S employee Cara Hoofe, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016. She submitted the idea via the retailer's CEO suggestion scheme, Straight to Stuart, and kickstarted a movement that can help potentially save lives.
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Statistics from Bowel Cancer UK suggest almost half of adults in the UK can't name a single symptom of bowel cancer, despite it being the fourth most common cancer. It’s recently been highlighted in the media thanks to the work of Dame Deborah James, also known as Bowel Babe.
M&S partnered with the charity in May, pledging to add symptoms of bowel cancer on all their own brand loo roll, which would hit shelves in autumn.
On June 21, household brand Andrex joined the campaign, committing to adding the information to their full range of loo roll packaging, followed by Aldi, who are also adding a QR code to over 70 million loo roll packs a year.
Two days later, Morrisons got on board, followed by Waitrose, who hope to raise awareness of bowel cancer symptoms for customers. The same day, Asda committed to adding symptoms of bowel cancer on all ranges of own-brand toilet tissue packs, adding posters in toilets in their offices, and placing symptoms posters on store shelves to drive awareness.
Over the weekend Dame Deborah James, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, announced a new partnership with Tesco. In a bid to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, the information is set to be displayed on their Luxury Soft loo roll. The supermarket, along with WEPA UK, will also be donating £300,000 to Bowelbabe Fund.
Bowel Cancer UK are now calling for the Co-op, Lidl and Sainsbury’s to join the campaign, encouraging shoppers to tweet the supermarkets and ask them to get involved.
The charity added: “Knowing the symptoms, and acting on them, means that bowel cancer can be diagnosed earlier when it is more treatable and curable. But fewer than 40 per cent of people are diagnosed at the earliest stages. We can change this and ultimately save more lives.
“Changes in bowel habit and blood in your poo are two bowel cancer symptoms that happen while you're on the toilet. Seeing the symptoms on loo roll packaging should prompt you to check your poo every time you pick up a pack so you can act early, visit your GP quickly and get an earlier diagnosis. It could save your life.”
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