Steve Burd has high hopes for FoodFlex, a new online service that allows customers to track the nutritional quality of the food they buy, using sales data collected on their store loyalty cards.

Mr Burd is chief executive of Safeway, one of the big three US supermarket groups. In 2009, he wants to go further, offering employees who use the programme a discount on the costs of health insurance. This would extend benefits already offered to those who participate in fitness monitoring and other healthy activities.