Institute for Health Transformation, Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, Deakin University, Burwood 3125, Australia.
School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 24;20(5):4054. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054054.
Unhealthy food environments contribute to unhealthy population diets. In Australia, the government currently relies on voluntary food company actions (e.g., related to front-of-pack labelling, restricting promotion of unhealthy foods, and product formulation) as part of their efforts to improve population diets, despite evidence that such voluntary approaches are less effective than mandatory policies. This study aimed to understand public perceptions of potential food industry nutrition-related actions in Australia. An online survey was completed by 4289 Australians in 2020 as part of the International Food Policy Study. The level of public support was assessed for six different nutrition-related actions related to food labelling, food promotion, and product formulation. High levels of support were observed for all six company actions, with the highest support observed for displaying the Health Star Rating on all products (80.4%) and restricting children's exposure to online promotion of unhealthy food (76.8%). Findings suggest the Australian public is strongly supportive of food companies taking action to improve nutrition and the healthiness of food environments. However, given the limitations of the voluntary action from food companies, mandatory policy action by the Australian government is likely to be needed to ensure company practices align with public expectations.
不健康的食品环境导致人们饮食不健康。在澳大利亚，政府目前依靠食品公司的自愿行动（例如与包装正面标签、限制不健康食品的促销以及产品配方相关的行动）来改善人口饮食，尽管有证据表明此类自愿方法不如强制性政策有效。本研究旨在了解澳大利亚公众对潜在食品行业营养相关行动的看法。2020 年，4289 名澳大利亚人在线完成了这项作为国际食品政策研究一部分的调查。评估了与食品标签、食品促销和产品配方相关的六项不同营养相关行动的公众支持程度。公众对所有六项公司行动表示高度支持，对在所有产品上显示健康星级评级（80.4%）和限制儿童接触在线推广的不健康食品（76.8%）的支持率最高。研究结果表明，澳大利亚公众强烈支持食品公司采取行动改善营养和食品环境的健康度。然而，鉴于食品公司自愿行动的局限性，澳大利亚政府可能需要采取强制性政策行动，以确保公司的做法符合公众的期望。
