Health policy implications of corporate social responsibility provisions in international investment agreements.

Objective: To analyse and classify inclusions of corporate social responsibility in international investment agreements, especially inclusions with reference to public health.

Method: We extracted the text of international investment agreements containing corporate social responsibility inclusions from the Electronic Database of Investment Treaties. We conducted a documentary analysis of the corporate social responsibility inclusions, and we developed a typology categorizing inclusions based on level of detail and reference to international commitments.

A Scoping Review of Citizen Science Approaches in Chronic Disease Prevention.

Background: Citizen science approaches, which involve members of the public as active collaborators in scientific research, are increasingly being recognized for their potential benefits in chronic disease prevention. However, understanding the potential applicability, feasibility and impacts of these approaches is necessary if they are to be more widely used. This study aimed to synthesize research that has applied and evaluated citizen science approaches in chronic disease prevention and identify key questions, gaps, and opportunities to inform future work in this field.

Identifying Opportunities for Strategic Policy Design to Address the Double Burden of Malnutrition through Healthier Retail Food: Protocol for South East Asia Obesogenic Food Environment (SEAOFE) Study.

Effective policies that address both the supply and demand dimensions of access to affordable, healthy foods are required for tackling malnutrition in South East Asia. This paper presents the Protocol for the South East Asia Obesogenic Food Environment (SEAOFE) study, which is designed to analyze the retail food environment, consumers' and retailers' perspectives regarding the retail food environment, and existing policies influencing food retail in four countries in South East Asia in order to develop evidence-informed policy recommendations. This study was designed as a mixed-methods sequential explanatory approach.

Drawing on Strategic Management Approaches to Inform Nutrition Policy Design: An Applied Policy Analysis for Salt Reduction in Packaged Foods.

Background: Nutrition policies to improve the food environment frequently rely on voluntary business action for implementation, many have had mixed success. The aims of this study were to identify key food system drivers influencing the Australian packaged food sector and analyse how these might impact the willingness of food companies to voluntarily reduce salt in packaged foods.

Methods: Business methods formed the basis of this retrospective applied policy analysis of voluntary salt reduction for the period 2013-2016 where the focal policy was the Australian Food and Health Dialogue (2009-2015).

COVID-19 and Pacific food system resilience: opportunities to build a robust response.

The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of the Pacific food system to externalities and has had far-reaching impacts, despite the small number of COVID-19 cases recorded thus far. Measures adopted to mitigate risk from the pandemic have had severe impacts on tourism, remittances, and international trade, among other aspects of the political economy of the region, and are thus impacting on food systems, food security and livelihoods. Of particular concern will be the interplay between loss of incomes and the availability and affordability of local and imported foods.

The Effects of a Supermarket-Based Intervention on the Nutritional Quality of Private-Label Foods: A Prospective Study.

Private-label products, products owned by supermarkets, are a growing area of the food supply. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an intervention that provided an Australian supermarket ('intervention supermarket') with comparative nutrition data to improve the healthiness of their private-label range. Between 2015 and 2016, the intervention supermarket received reports that ranked the nutritional quality of their products against competitors.

A narrative review of online food delivery in Australia: challenges and opportunities for public health nutrition policy.

Objective: Online food delivery (OFD) platforms offer consumers a convenient and fast delivery service of foods and drinks sourced from foodservice partners (e.g. restaurants, quick service restaurants).

Private food safety standards in the global food supply chain: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review is to examine and map the reported forms, process functions, and objectives associated with private food safety standards to draw conclusions for public health nutrition.

Introduction: One pressing public health nutrition issue is the need for a healthier food supply to reduce diet-related risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Many organizations are involved in private food safety and/or nutrition standards that govern their food supply.

Fiscal policy to improve diets and prevent noncommunicable diseases: from recommendations to action.

The World Health Organization has recommended that Member States consider taxing energy-dense beverages and foods and/or subsidizing nutrient-rich foods to improve diets and prevent noncommunicable diseases. Numerous countries have either implemented taxes on energy-dense beverages and foods or are considering the implementation of such taxes. However, several major challenges to the implementation of fiscal policies to improve diets and prevent noncommunicable diseases remain.

Effects of an Advocacy Trial on Food Industry Salt Reduction Efforts-An Interim Process Evaluation.

The decisions made by food companies are a potent factor shaping the nutritional quality of the food supply. A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) advocate for corporate action to reduce salt levels in foods, but few data define the effectiveness of advocacy. This present report describes the process evaluation of an advocacy intervention delivered by one Australian NGO directly to food companies to reduce the salt content of processed foods.

Completeness of nutrient declarations and the average nutritional composition of pre-packaged foods in Beijing, China.

Increasing consumption of pre-packaged foods is likely an important driver of diet-related diseases in China. From January 2013 it became mandatory to provide a standardised nutrient declaration on pre-packaged foods in China. We collected data on pre-packaged foods from large chain supermarkets in Beijing in 2013, examined the completeness of the nutrient declaration of core required nutrients and summarised the average nutritional composition of 14 different major food groups.

High variation in manufacturer-declared serving size of packaged discretionary foods in Australia.

Despite the potential of declared serving size to encourage appropriate portion size consumption, most countries including Australia have not developed clear reference guidelines for serving size. The present study evaluated variability in manufacturer-declared serving size of discretionary food and beverage products in Australia, and how declared serving size compared with the 2013 Australian Dietary Guideline (ADG) standard serve (600 kJ). Serving sizes were obtained from the Nutrition Information Panel for 4466 packaged, discretionary products in 2013 at four large supermarkets in Sydney, Australia, and categorised into fifteen categories in line with the 2013 ADG.

Protocol for a cluster-randomised trial to determine the effects of advocacy actions on the salt content of processed foods.

Background: Corporate decisions affecting the composition of processed foods are a potent factor shaping the nutritional quality of the food supply. The addition of large quantities of salt to foods is incompatible with Australian Dietary Guidelines and the reformulation of processed foods to have less salt is a focus of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). There is evidence that advocacy can influence corporate behaviour but there are few data to define the effects of NGOs working in the food space.

A Comparison of the Sodium Content of Supermarket Private-Label and Branded Foods in Australia.

Supermarket private-label products are perceived to be lower quality than their branded counterparts. Excess dietary sodium in foods contributes to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Sodium concentrations in products are an important indicator of quality.

Are gluten-free foods healthier than non-gluten-free foods? An evaluation of supermarket products in Australia.

Despite tremendous growth in the consumption of gluten-free (GF) foods, there is a lack of evaluation of their nutritional profile and how they compare with non-GF foods. The present study evaluated the nutritional quality of GF and non-GF foods in core food groups, and a wide range of discretionary products in Australian supermarkets. Nutritional information on the Nutrition Information Panel was systematically obtained from all packaged foods at four large supermarkets in Sydney, Australia in 2013.

'Sustainability does not quite get the attention it deserves': synergies and tensions in the sustainability frames of Australian food policy actors.

Objective: The development of food policy is strongly influenced by the understanding and position actors adopt in their 'framing' of sustainability. The Australian Government developed a National Food Plan (2010-2013). In public consultations on the National Food Plan Green Paper, the government sought stakeholders' views on sustainability.

An evaluation of the effects of the Australian Food and Health Dialogue targets on the sodium content of bread, breakfast cereals and processed meats.

The Australian Food and Health Dialogue set sodium reduction targets for three food categories (breads, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and processed meats) to be achieved by December, 2013. Sodium levels for 1849 relevant packaged foods on the shelves of Australian supermarkets between 2010 and 2013 were examined. Changes in mean sodium content were assessed by linear mixed models, and the significance of differences in the proportion of products meeting targets was determined using chi-squared or McNemar's tests.

FoodSwitch: A Mobile Phone App to Enable Consumers to Make Healthier Food Choices and Crowdsourcing of National Food Composition Data.

Background: Front-of-pack nutrition labeling (FoPL) schemes can help consumers understand the nutritional content of foods and may aid healthier food choices. However, most packaged foods in Australia carry no easily interpretable FoPL, and no standard FoPL system has yet been mandated. About two thirds of Australians now own a smartphone.

The association of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to salt with 24-hour urinary sodium excretion.

Aim: Salt reduction efforts usually have a strong focus on consumer education. Understanding the association between salt consumption levels and knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards salt should provide insight into the likely effectiveness of education-based programs.

Methods: A single 24-hour urine sample and a questionnaire describing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours was obtained from 306 randomly selected participants and 113 volunteers from a regional town in Australia.

A systematic interim assessment of the Australian Government's Food and Health Dialogue.

Objective: To evaluate whether the Food and Health Dialogue (the Dialogue), established by the Australian Government in 2009, is having an impact on reducing premature death and disability caused by poor diet in Australia.

Design And Setting: We used information derived from the Dialogue website, media releases, communiqués and e-newsletters to evaluate the Dialogue's achievements from October 2009 to September 2013, using the RE-AIM (reach, efficacy, adoption, implementation and maintenance) framework. Data describing the processed foods marketed in Australia were extracted from an existing food composition database.

The Australian Food and Health Dialogue - the implications of the sodium recommendation for pasta sauces.

Objective: To assess the change in Na content of Australian pasta sauces between 2008 and 2011. A secondary objective was to project the mean Na content of these same products in 2014 using the Australian Food and Health Dialogue Na commitment and compare projections with the 2012 UK Na target for pasta sauce.

Design: Na data were collected from the product labels of pasta sauce products.