Govt flags changes to grocery price site

The Rudd government appears ready to make changes to its GROCERYchoice website, just three months after its launch.

The move comes as a key senator, responsible for helping kill off the government's planned petrol price monitoring scheme last week, flagged a parliamentary push for changes.

GROCERYchoice aims to provide consumers with pricing information for selected groceries from supermarkets in regions around the country.

But, according to independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, it's not good enough that the prices are only updated monthly.

"If the supermarkets sold food as out of date as this website, they'd be shut down," he said.

Senator Xenophon wants prices updated weekly and the website to name the 10 cheapest supermarkets in each region.

Federal Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Bowen says the government has been consulting with supermarkets and consumer groups about improvements to the website, a commitment it made when launching the service in August.

"A further announcement will be made on the website in due course," a spokesman for the minister said.