Table 2.

Public health nutrition policies to improve the healthiness of foods and drinks for sale in Australian foodservice and retail outlets⁽⁴⁶⁾

Policy	Overall description	Target of policy	Current application to OFD platforms in Australia and other countries	Dimensions from best practice guidelines	Relevance to OFD platforms and likely impact on diet-related health
Menu Kilojoule Labelling	A mandatory requirement to provide consumers with information on the energy content of their foods and drinks at the point of purchase. This scheme has been introduced by legislation in most Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory)(45). For example, in New South Wales (NSW), a foodservice operator of food outlets with twenty or more locations in NSW or fifty or more locations nationally must display the energy content of each standard food item in kilojoules (kJ). This includes ready-to-eat food, sold in single or multiple serves, standardised for portion size and content, shown on a menu or displayed with a piece or label. The restaurants must also display the recommended average daily kilojoule intake(19). If the foodservice operator has their own app or website, they are required to display kilojoule content there as well(19).	Foodservice outlets that meet requirements set out in the respective State legislation	Not applicable – In Australia, there is no guidance for (third party) OFD platforms. One OFD platform (Deliveroo) has voluntarily pledged to include energy information for up to 500 restaurants within the UK before implementing this internationally(46).	Labelling	The technological feasibility is high for OFD platforms to display kJ information. OFD platforms already use promotional tagging to highlight different food types, offers and popularity, indicating it would highly feasible to add information that would aid healthy choices. There is evidence that menu labelling has prompted businesses to reformulate(45), suggesting that the display of kJ information could lead to improvements in the nutritional quality of foods and drinks offered on OFD platforms. Deliveroo (which aims to include energy information in its app) is also working with a nutritionist and foodservice partners to introduce healthier options, which will be available through the app only(46). The cost of the requirement to display the kilojoule information may disadvantage smaller foodservice partners currently excluded from the labelling legislation(47).
Health Star Rating System (HSR)	A voluntary national labelling scheme, which aims to provide an easy way to compare similar packaged foods and encourage healthier choices(48). A rating from 0·5 to 5 stars is generated for a food item based on energy, saturated fats, sodium and total sugar, fruit and vegetable, nut and legume content, dietary fibre and protein content. It is the food manufacturer and retailers’ responsibility to display the correct rating.	Packaged food	Not applicable	Labelling	There is evidence that the HSR can be applied to fast foods(49) and therefore could be extended to meals offered on OFD platforms. Additional consideration may be needed for portion size, as the “per 100 g” method currently used may be more difficult for consumers to interpret that using standard portion sizes(49). While it may require modifications to the HSR algorithm, it would also depend on the capacity of the foodservice partners to calculate the HSR and willingness of the OFD platforms to provide this information. A recent review indicates that the HSR ratings align well with the Australian dietary guidelines(50), but the impact on consumer choice is less clear(51,52).
Healthy Food Partnership	A partnership between the government, the public health sector and the food industry that aims to improve dietary habits by establishing a programme of voluntary product reformulation, encouraging healthier food choices, funding and implementing a national campaign promoting healthy eating and ultimately reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity(53).	Portion sizes, food choices	It is unclear whether OFD platforms have been approached about the partnership and opted not to be included or whether they have not been considered at all. Part of a planned foodservice pledge did include providing more nutritional information on app-based menu systems, but the working group responsible for this pledge had ceased operating(54).	Reformulation, availability, mass media campaign/public awareness	Inclusion of OFD platforms in this partnership may enable a greater awareness and understanding of their impact on dietary quality and diet-related health for the government, public health sector and OFD platforms themselves. It could then facilitate discussions of how OFD platforms can be involved in encouraging healthier food choices that align with the goals of the partnership.  However, there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of the Healthy Food Partnership(55) or of a previously implemented initiative with similar goals(56)