enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income Peopleshealthy options, creating a price disincentive for consumers. For example, at McDonaldsa classic chicken salad is 30c more expensive than a Big Mac and large friescombined, 92 and at Burger King consumers are charged 60c to swap items in a combomeal for healthier choices. 92 Having healthier options on the menu at a price premium isnot offering an equivalent choice to low-income consumers. If the food industry isserious about encouraging healthier diets, it should consider listing healthier options atthe same or lower prices than less healthy options, even if this requires subsidising theircost from sales of less healthy options. The need to continue developing and promotinghealthier options instead of less healthy is highlighted in a quote from the ENHANCEfocus groups:“We eat the way we eat, not because it’s cultural but because it is all around us…It is put in our face”The way that fast food is cooked can impact on the healthiness of the food. In NewZealand, the National Heart Foundation and the Chip Group have worked on reducingthe fat content of hot chips. Through training of takeaway staff in correct cookingtechniques, and use of the right shape of chip and cooking oil, the fat content of chipscan be reduced, improving the food supply without additional cost to consumers. 93Menu board labelling of the nutrition content of food sold in fast food outlets andrestaurants would be another means of promoting informed choice of healthier options.Menu board labelling can influence consumer attitudes toward healthier products andtheir intention to buy them, as well as increasing sales of healthier menu choices tosome extent. 94-98 While some fast-food chains voluntarily provide nutrition information ontheir products, this information is usually made available after the point-of-purchase.There is growing pressure internationally to consider menu labelling at restaurants andfast-food outlets. Recent food labelling bills passed in New York City and the state ofCalifornia require all food chains with more than 15 to 20 outlets respectively(nationwide) to provide energy information on their menu boards; 99 100 and earlier thisyear a campaign was launched to pass national legislation across America employing auniform menu-labelling standard. Similarly, in the UK the Food Standards Agency isnegotiating a menu-labelling campaign; they have already signed approximately sixlarge restaurant chains to trial menu energy labelling over the UK summer (2009), andexpect another 46 or so to follow when the pilot scheme is complete. 101 In Australia, thePreventative Health Taskforce has recently announced that they too are considering theneed for energy information on restaurant and take-away chain menus, and will submitthis strategy as a recommendation to the Government in June this year. 102 If menulabelling is successful in these countries, it should receive strong consideration forimplementation in New Zealand.In this final section of the literature review, the role of the food industry at thedownstream food service level has been examined. Fast food outlets who typicallyserve high fat or high calorie foods can work to improve the healthiness of their productrange, provide consumers with the information to make a healthier choice through menuboard labelling, and promote healthier options by offering them at the same or lowerprice to less healthy options.116