Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
PLoS One. 2023 Oct 19;18(10):e0293004. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293004. eCollection 2023.
Online food delivery applications (OFD apps) provide consumers with a wide range of options to choose from. The present study aimed to assess the usage of OFD apps and investigate the factors that affect food choices with a special emphasis on healthy food choices and hygiene. A cross-sectional study among food delivery application users in Jordan was conducted using an online questionnaire between March and May 2022. A total of 675 eligible subjects participated in the study. Consumers' demographic characteristics, data on consumers' use of OFD apps, consumers' perceptions of healthy food availability in OFD apps, and consumers' attitudes toward food safety and delivery hygiene were collected and analyzed. About 64% of the studied sample used OFD apps weekly. Fast food was the most popular option for ordering (87.1%) and lunchtime was the most preferred time to order food (67.3%) for most of the respondents. Respondents' perceptions of a "healthy meal" was associated with the presence of a variety of vegetables in the meal. Food price, food appearance, time of delivery, macronutrient content information, the availability of healthy options, and considering vegetables as part of a healthy meal were determinants of consumer food choice (p<0.05). The findings suggest that the online food environment in Jordan was perceived to be unhealthy. Nevertheless, the convenient nature and the popularity of OFD apps hold great potential to promote healthy eating among consumers.
在线食品配送应用程序（OFD 应用程序）为消费者提供了广泛的选择。本研究旨在评估 OFD 应用程序的使用情况，并研究影响食品选择的因素，特别关注健康食品选择和卫生。2022 年 3 月至 5 月期间，在约旦的在线食品配送应用程序用户中进行了一项横断面研究，使用在线问卷进行。共有 675 名符合条件的受试者参加了研究。收集和分析了消费者的人口统计学特征、消费者使用 OFD 应用程序的数据、消费者对 OFD 应用程序中健康食品供应的看法以及消费者对食品安全和配送卫生的态度。研究样本中约有 64%的人每周使用 OFD 应用程序。对于大多数受访者来说，快餐是最受欢迎的点餐选择（87.1%），午餐时间是最受欢迎的点餐时间（67.3%）。受访者对“健康餐”的看法与餐中蔬菜种类的丰富程度有关。食品价格、食品外观、配送时间、宏量营养素含量信息、健康选择的可用性以及将蔬菜视为健康餐的一部分是消费者食品选择的决定因素（p<0.05）。研究结果表明，约旦的在线食品环境被认为是不健康的。然而，OFD 应用程序的便利性和受欢迎程度为促进消费者健康饮食提供了巨大的潜力。
