Governments are increasingly implementing policies to improve population diets, despite food industry resistance to regulation that may reduce their profits from sales of unhealthy foods. However, retail food environments remain an important target for policy action. This study analysed publicly available responses of industry actors to two public consultations on regulatory options for restricting unhealthy food price and placement promotions in retail outlets in Scotland.

We conducted a qualitative content analysis guided by the Policy Dystopia Model to identify the discursive (argument-based) and instrumental (tactic-based) strategies used by industry actors to counter the proposed food retail policies.

Scotland, UK, 2017-2019.

N/A

Most food and retail industry responses opposed the policy proposals. Discursive strategies employed by these actors commonly highlighted the potential costs to the economy, their industries and the public in the context of a financial crisis, and disputed the potential health benefits of the proposals. They claimed that existing efforts to improve population diets, such as nutritional reformulation, would be undermined. Instrumental strategies included using unsubstantiated and misleading claims, building a coordinated narrative focused on key opposing arguments and seeking further involvement in policy decision-making.

These findings can be used by public health actors to anticipate and prepare for industry opposition when developing policies targeted at reducing the promotion of unhealthy food in retail settings. Government action should ensure robust management of conflicts of interest and establishment of guidance for the use of supporting evidence as part of the public health policy process.

The use of online food delivery (OFD) platforms is on the rise, and currently, there are no public health policies that regulate what and how food is sold on these platforms. Research quantifying and describing the marketing strategies on OFD platforms is limited. Our study aimed to test the consumers’ acceptability of using two screen capture methods to record their food purchasing behaviour on OFD platforms and describe consumers’ exposure to, and engagement with, marketing strategies on OFD platforms in real time.

Semi-structured online interviews on the consumer acceptability of using the screen capture methods were analysed using thematic analysis. Screen recordings of OFD orders were analysed using content analysis, guided by the marketing mix framework (i.e. product, placement, price and promotion).

Victoria, Australia

Twenty adults using the OFD service at least once a month were recruited.

The mean age of the sample was 28 years. 75 % were females, over 80 % had completed higher education and 20 % lived with children < 18 years of age. Over half used OFD service two to five times per week. Participants expressed that both smartphone’s in-built screen recording function and third-party screen recording application are easy-to-use and time-efficient with high levels of user satisfaction. A range of marketing strategies were observed on the OFD platform. These included the presence of, and strategic placement of selected food products, price discounts and promotion strategies. Participants appeared to engage with marketing strategies through multiple clicks to reduce the total cost of their OFD order.

Our study demonstrates that screen recording is an acceptable method for capturing and assessing consumers’ real-time exposure to, and engagement with, a range of marketing strategies on the OFD platform. Studies with larger samples are needed to substantiate our findings.

To understand the characteristics of food environments in the Pacific region, and the broader economic, policy and sociocultural surroundings that influence food choices and interventions to improve food environments for Pacific communities.

Systematic searches were conducted for articles related to food environments or factors influencing food choices from 1993 to 2024 in five academic databases, Google, Google Scholar and relevant organisations’ websites. Studies were included if they meet the eligibility criteria. Two authors independently reviewed the title and abstract of identified articles. Full-text screening was conducted before data were extracted from eligible studies. A narrative analysis was informed by an existing food environments framework.

Pacific Island countries or territories that are a member of the Pacific Community (SPC).

Not applicable.

From the sixty-six included studies (of 2520 records screened), it was clear that food environments in the Pacific region are characterised by high availability and promotion of ultra-processed unhealthy foods. These foods were reported to be cheaper than healthier alternatives and have poor nutritional labelling. Food trade and investment, together with sociocultural and political factors, were found to contribute to unhealthy food choices. Policy interventions have been implemented to address food environments; however, the development and implementation of food environment policies could be strengthened through stronger leadership, effective multisectoral collaboration and clear lines of responsibility.

Interventions focused on improving physical, economic, policy and sociocultural influences on food choices should be prioritised in the Pacific region to improve the food environment and mitigate barriers to healthy eating.

We aimed to understand what influences parents’ purchasing behaviours when shopping for groceries online and potential ways to improve the healthiness of online grocery platforms.

We conducted semi-structured interviews, guided by the Marketing Mix framework. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse data.

Online interviews were conducted with primary grocery shoppers.

Parents (n 14) or caregivers (n 2) using online grocery platforms at least every 2 weeks.

Most participants perceived purchasing healthy food when shopping for groceries online to be more challenging compared to in physical stores. They expressed concerns about the prominence of online marketing for unhealthy food. Participants from lower socio-economic backgrounds often depended on online supermarket catalogues to find price promotions, but healthy options at discounted prices were limited. Across socio-economic groups, fresh items like meat and fruit were preferred to be purchased instore due to concerns about online food quality.

Participants believed online grocery platforms should make healthy foods more affordable and supported regulations on supermarket retailers to promote healthy options and limit unhealthy food promotion online.

Participants had varied experiences with online grocery shopping, with both positive and negative aspects. Efforts to improve population diets need to include mechanisms to create health-enabling online grocery retail platforms. Government interventions to restrict marketing of unhealthy foods and promote marketing of healthy options on these platforms warrant investigation.

To describe the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled dark nudges by leading global food and beverage companies to influence consumer behaviour.

The five most recent annual reports (ranging from 2014 to 2018 or 2015 to 2019, depending on the company) and websites from twelve of the leading companies in the global food and beverage industry were reviewed to identify uses of AI and emerging technologies to influence consumer behaviour. Uses of AI and emerging technologies were categorised according to the Typology of Interventions in Proximal Physical Micro-Environments (TIPPME) framework, a tool for categorising and describing nudge-type behaviour change interventions (which has also previously been used to describe dark nudge-type approaches used by the alcohol industry).

Not applicable.

Twelve leading companies in the global food and beverage industry.

Text was extracted from fifty-seven documents from eleven companies. AI-enabled dark nudges used by food and beverage companies included those that altered products and objects’ availability (e.g. social listening to inform product development), position (e.g. decision technology and facial recognition to manipulate the position of products on menu boards), functionality (e.g. decision technology to prompt further purchases based on current selections) and presentation (e.g. augmented or virtual reality to deliver engaging and immersive marketing).

Public health practitioners and policymakers must understand and engage with these technologies and tactics if they are to counter industry promotion of products harmful to health, particularly as investment by the industry in AI and other emerging technologies suggests their use will continue to grow.

To compare the cost and affordability of two fortnightly diets (representing the national guidelines and current consumption) across areas containing Australia’s major supermarkets.

The Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing protocol was used.

Price data were collected online and via phone calls in fifty-one urban and inner regional locations across Australia.

Not applicable.

Healthy diets were consistently less expensive than current (unhealthy) diets. Nonetheless, healthy diets would cost 25–26 % of the disposable income for low-income households and 30–31 % of the poverty line. Differences in gross incomes (the most available income metric which overrepresents disposable income) drove national variations in diet affordability (from 14 % of the median gross household incomes in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory to 25 % of the median gross household income in Tasmania).

In Australian cities and regional areas with major supermarkets, access to affordable diets remains problematic for families receiving low incomes. These findings are likely to be exacerbated in outer regional and remote areas (not included in this study). To make healthy diets economically appealing, policies that reduce the (absolute and relative) costs of healthy diets and increase the incomes of Australians living in poverty are required.

To assess the price promotions offered by major quick service restaurant (QSR) chains in Australia from an obesity prevention perspective.

Cross-sectional audit of ten of the largest QSR chains in Australia. We collected information regarding temporary price promotions and ‘combination deals’ offered by each chain over thirteen consecutive weeks in 2019–2020. We assessed the type of promotions, the magnitude of discount, and the energy content and healthiness of items promoted (based on Victorian Government criteria).

Melbourne, Australia.

Ten major QSR chains.

Temporary price promotions (n 196) and combination deals (n 537 on regular menus, n 36 on children’s menus) were observed across the ten selected QSR chains. In relation to temporary price promotions, the mean magnitude of discount for main menu items (n 75) was 41·7 %. The price reductions and energy content of combination deals varied substantially the by chain, the meal size and the sides/drinks selected as part of the ‘deal’. When the lowest-energy options (e.g. small chips, small sugar-free drink) were included as part of each combination deal, the mean energy content was 2935 kJ, compared to 5764 kJ when the highest-energy options (e.g. large fries, large sugar-sweetened drink) were included. Almost all available products were classified as unhealthy.

Price promotions are ubiquitous in major QSR chains in Australia and provide incentives to consume high levels of energy. The action to restrict price promotions on unhealthy foods and ensure lower-energy default items as part of combination deals should be included as part of efforts to improve population diets and address obesity in Australia.

To assess the feasibility of implementation and customer perspectives of a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) reduction initiative across YMCA Victoria aquatic and recreation centres.

Two data sources were used to assess implementation and customer acceptability. Photo audits were used to assess the type of drinks available for purchase 6 months prior to initiative implementation and 6 months after, in thirty centres. Change in the range of SSB targeted for removal, non-targeted SSB, as well as drinks classified as ‘red’ (limit), ‘amber’ (choose carefully) and ‘green’ (best choice), was reported. Customer surveys were conducted in three centres to assess acceptability and awareness of the initiative. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis was used to analyse customers’ perspectives of the initiative.

30 aquatic and recreation centres in Victoria, Australia.

806 customers.

At post-implementation, 87 % of centres had removed targeted SSB. ‘Red’ drinks reduced by an average of 4·4 drink varieties compared to pre-implementation (11·9 varieties) and ‘green’ drinks increased by 1·4 varieties (3·2 varieties pre-implementation). Customers were largely unaware of the SSB-reduction initiative (90 %) but supported YMCA Victoria in continuing the initiative (89 %), with many believing it would support children in making healthier choices.

Implementation of an initiative that limited SSB availability across a large number of aquatic and recreation centres was feasible and considered acceptable by customers. Customers frequently mentioned the importance of protecting children from consuming SSB.

To systematically audit the extent of unhealthy sponsorship within junior community sporting clubs and ascertain whether differences exist across geographical areas and sport types.

Club sponsorship data were assessed to determine the extent of unhealthy food/beverage, alcohol and gambling sponsorship using a cross-sectional design. Differences across geographical areas were assessed using logistic regressions.

A stratified random sampling procedure was used to select thirty communities across the state of Victoria, Australia. Within each community, local clubs across the top eight participating junior sports were selected for audit.

Sponsorship data were collected from 191 club websites and Facebook pages in September–November 2019.

Unhealthy sponsorships represented 8·9 % of all identified sponsorship arrangements. A quarter of all clubs accepted alcohol (25·6 %) and unhealthy food sponsors (25·9 %), and one-fifth of all clubs accepted high-risk food (unhealthy brands with large market share) (18·1 %) and gambling sponsors (20·4 %). Acceptance of unhealthy sponsorship differed across sport types with football, netball, cricket and soccer clubs having the greatest numbers. Compared with metro areas, a significantly greater proportion of sporting clubs in regional areas were affiliated with unhealthy food (32·7 % v. 19·6 %) and high-risk food sponsors (26·9 % v. 9·8 %). A higher proportion of clubs in low socio-economic status (SES), compared with the high SES areas, were affiliated with alcohol (33·9 % v. 16·5 %) and gambling sponsors (27·4 % v. 12·6 %).

Victorian children participating in community junior sports are being exposed to marketing of unhealthy brands and products. Public health intervention is necessary to protect children from this exposure.

To quantify sales trends for key energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods and beverages over 5 years in Australia.

The Euromonitor Global Market Information Database and linear regression models were used to estimate average annual change in sales per capita of thirteen EDNP food categories and two EDNP beverage categories (defined using Australian Dietary Guidelines) over 5 years (2012–2017 for foods and 2011–2016 for beverages). The average annual change in sales was divided by the observed sales in 2012 (foods) or 2011 (beverages) to estimate the average percentage-change in sales per capita per annum.

All major retail outlets in Australia.

Euromonitor Global Market Information Database sales data.

Between 2012 and 2017, sales per capita per annum of frozen pizza (6 %), pastries (5 %), potato chips (crisps) (5 %), tortilla chips (3 %), chocolate confectionery (2 %), frozen processed potatoes (2 %), ice cream (2 %) and sugar confectionery (0·2 %) increased. There were no changes in sales of sweet biscuits, chocolate spreads and cakes, and sales of savoury biscuits and processed meat decreased (–2 and –1 %, respectively). Between 2011 and 2016, sales per capita per annum of sports and energy drinks increased (4 %), sales of regular (sugar-sweetened) cola (–6 %) and all non-cola soft drinks (–1 %) decreased and sales of diet cola did not change.

Sales of EDNP foods and beverages generally increased or remained stable relative to population growth. Our results demonstrate the need for public health policies to reduce sales of EDNP foods and beverages.

To determine the reliability of streamlined data-gathering techniques for examining the price and affordability of a healthy (recommended) and unhealthy (current) diet. We additionally estimated the price and affordability of diets across socio-economic areas and quantified the influence of different pricing scenarios.

Following the Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing (ASAP) protocol, we compared a cross-sectional sample of food and beverage pricing data collected using online data and phone calls (lower-resource streamlined techniques) with data collected in-store from the same retailers.

Food and beverage prices were collected from major supermarkets, fast food and alcohol retailers in eight conveniently sampled areas in Victoria, Australia (n 72 stores), stratified by area-level deprivation and remoteness.

This study did not involve human participants.

The biweekly price of a healthy diet was on average 21 % cheaper ($596) than an unhealthy diet ($721) for a four-person family using the streamlined techniques, which was comparable with estimates using in-store data (healthy: $594, unhealthy: $731). The diet price differential did not vary considerably across geographical areas (range: 18–23 %). Both diets were estimated to be unaffordable for families living on indicative low disposable household incomes and below the poverty line. The inclusion of generic brands notably reduced the prices of healthy and unhealthy diets (≥20 %), rendering both affordable against indicative low disposable household incomes. Inclusion of discounted prices marginally reduced diet prices (3 %).

Streamlined data-gathering techniques are a reliable method for regular, flexible and widespread monitoring of the price and affordability of population diets in areas where supermarkets have an online presence.

A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) has been proposed to address population weight gain but the effect across socio-economic position (SEP) is unclear. The current study aimed to clarify the differential impact(s) of SSB taxes on beverage purchases and consumption, weight outcomes and the amount paid in SSB taxes according to SEP.

Databases (OVID and EMBASE) and grey literature were systematically searched in June 2015 to identify studies that examined effects of an SSB price increase on beverage purchases or consumption, weight outcomes or the amount paid in tax across SEP, within high-income countries.

Of the eleven included articles, three study types were identified: (i) those that examined the association between variation in SSB taxes and SSB consumption and/or body weight (n 3); (ii) price elasticity estimation of SSB demand (n 1); and (iii) modelling of hypothetical SSB taxes by combining price elasticity estimates with population SEP-specific beverage consumption, energy intake or body weight (n 7). Few studies statistically tested differences in outcomes between SEP groups. Nevertheless, of the seven studies that reported on changes in weight outcomes for the total population following an increase in SSB price, all reported either similar reductions in weight across SEP groups or greater reductions for lower compared with higher SEP groups. All studies that examined the average household amount paid in tax (n 5) reported that an SSB tax would be regressive, but with small differences between higher- and lower-income households (0·10–1·0 % and 0·03 %–0·60 % of annual household income paid in SSB tax for low- and high-income households, respectively).

Based on the available evidence, a tax on SSB will deliver similar population weight benefits across socio-economic strata or greater benefits for lower SEP groups. An SSB tax is shown to be consistently financially regressive, but to a small degree.

We aimed to investigate the association between multiple measures of socio-economic position (SEP) and diet quality, using a diet quality index representing current national dietary guidelines, in the Australian adult population.

Cross-sectional study. Linear regression analyses were used to estimate the association between indicators of SEP (educational attainment, level of income and area-level disadvantage) and diet quality (measured using the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI)) in the total sample and stratified by sex and age (≤55 years and >55 years).

A large randomly selected sample of the Australian adult population.

Australian adults (n 9296; aged ≥25 years) from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study.

A higher level of educational attainment and income and a lower level of area-level disadvantage were significantly associated with a higher DGI score, across the gradient of SEP. The association between indicators of SEP and DGI score was consistently stronger among those aged ≤55 years compared with their older counterparts. The most disadvantaged group had a DGI score between 2 and 5 units lower (depending on the marker of SEP) compared with the group with the least disadvantage.

A higher level of SEP was consistently associated with a higher level of diet quality for all indicators of SEP examined. In order to reduce socio-economic inequalities in diet quality, healthy eating initiatives need to act across the gradient of socio-economic disadvantage with a proportionate focus on those with greater socio-economic disadvantage.