REFORM

Improving the healthiness of food environments requires a comprehensive societal response, including government policies and wide-scale action from the food industry. While the NZ Government encourages food companies to support healthy food environments via voluntary initiatives schemes, and some food companies have expressly stated their willingness to act, there is currently very limited support and expertise in place to guide companies in their policy development and implementation. The Supporting Companies to Improve Nutrition Policies and Practices (REFORM) study is one of the five projects in the DIET programme that examine approaches to improving food environments and population health.

Aim

Our aim is to quantify the effects of a theory- and evidence-based support programme (tailored support to improve nutrition-related policies and practices), on the nutrient profile of New Zealand food company product portfolios.

Timeline

The study will begin in April 2021.

Results

Expected 2024

Publications and Presentations

• Shaw G, Mackay S, Gontijo de Castro T, Eyles H, Young L, Ni Mhurchu C. Benchmarking the energy, sodium, sugar and saturated fat content of products and meal combos at NZ fast-food outlets in 2020 [oral presentation]. Virtual Conference 2021: Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand, 2-3 December 2021