Supermarket choices 'paralyse' shoppers

Britain's largest food retailer typically sells specialties such as low cholesterol, lactosefree, omega 3 enriched, locally sourced, soya, flavoured and goats' milk alongside standard cows' milk.

Tesco also stocks 154 different jams, 107 varieties of pasta and 98 types of fruit cordial. The recently opened American Whole Foods Market in Kensington sells 1,000 wines, 100 types of nuts and 40 different sausages.

Psychologists believe the over-abundance of choice is making customers unhappy because they are faced with too many decisions and end up feeling they have chosen badly.

Professor Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox Of Choice, said: "There is vastly too much choice in the modern world and we are paying an enormous price for it. It makes us feel helpless, mentally paralysed and profoundly dissatisfied.

"We feel bad that every time we do make a choice, it seems we are missing out on other opportunities. This makes us feel inadequate and dissatisfied with what we have chosen."

The major supermarket chains each stock more than 30,000 product lines, which are growing each year with the addition of more non-grocery items such as clothing, books, DVDs and electrical items.

However, research in America suggests that less consumer choice may be better for mental wellbeing. Professor Mark Lepper of Stanford University found that consumers who tested six jams went on to buy more and feel happier than those offered 24 jams to taste.

The 38 varieties of milk sold by Tesco
Tesco healthy eating semiskimmed
Tesco healthy eating skimmed
Tesco pasteurised semiskimmed
Tesco whole
Cravendale semiskimmed
Cravendale skimmed
Cravendale whole
St Ivel Advance semiskimmed
St Ivel Advance whole
Tesco pure fresh skimmed
Tesco pure fresh semiskimmed
Tesco pure fresh whole
Wiseman the one
T localchoice south east semi
T localchoice south east skim
T localchoice south east whole
Alpro light unsweetened soya
Alpro soya fresh
Alpro soya milk chocolate
Flora Pro. Activ
Lactofree semi-skimmed
So good soya drink
St Helen's pasteurised goats'
St Helen's semi-skimmed goats'
T chocolate flavoured goats'
T semi-skimmed milk with omega-3
Tesco finest Channel Island
Tesco fresh sweetened soya
Tesco semi-skimmed goats'
Kids banana flavoured selfservice
Kids chocolate flavoured self-service
Kids strawberry flavoured self-service
Nesquik chocolate
Tesco banana flavoured
Tesco chocolate flavoured
Tesco finest Belgian chocolate
Tesco finest mochalatte
Tesco strawberry flavoured