Abstract
BackgroundThe nutritional composition of foods and beverages consumed away from the home has important implications for population health. Our objective was to determine if the serve size, energy, and sodium contents of fast foods sold at chain restaurants in New Zealand (NZ) changed between 2012 and 2016.MethodsServe size and nutrient data were collected in annual cross-sectional surveys of all products sold at 10 major fast food chains. Changes over time may occur due to alterations in product availability or individual product reformulation. Linear regression adjusting for food group and chain was used to estimate overall changes in serve size and nutrients. Random effects mixed models were used to estimate reformulation changes on same products available for two or more years.ResultsAcross all products (n = 5468) increases were observed in mean serve size (+ 9 (3, 15) g, + 5%), energy density (+ 54 (27, 81) kJ/100 g, + 6%), energy per serve (+ 178 (125, 231) kJ, + 14%), and sodium per serve (+ 55 (24, 87) mg, + 12%). Sodium density did not change significantly. Four of 12 food groups (Desserts, Pizza, Sandwiches, and Salads) and four of 10 fast food chains (Domino’s, Hell Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Subway) displayed large, undesirable changes for three or more (of five) outcomes (≥10%; p < 0.05). One food group (Asian) and one chain (St Pierre’s) displayed large, desirable changes for two or more outcomes. The only significant reformulation change was a drop in sodium density (− 22 (− 36, − 8) mg/100 g, − 7%).ConclusionsThe serve size and energy density of NZ fast food products has increased significantly over the past 5 years. Lower sodium concentration in new and reformulated products has been offset by overall increases in serve size. Continued monitoring and development and implementation of Government-led targets for serve size and nutrient content of new and existing fast food products are required.
Highlights
The nutritional composition of foods and beverages consumed away from the home has important implications for population health
The first objective of this project was to determine if the overall serving size, energy and sodium contents of fast foods sold by major New Zealand (NZ) chain restaurants changed between 2012 and 2016, and whether any observed changes differed by food group or chain
Characteristics of the data set The total number of product records included for Objective 1 analysis was N = 5468 across 12 food groups and 10 major fast food chains (Additional file 1: Appendix 2)
Summary
The nutritional composition of foods and beverages consumed away from the home has important implications for population health. Our objective was to determine if the serve size, energy, and sodium contents of fast foods sold at chain restaurants in New Zealand (NZ) changed between 2012 and 2016. Consumption of food prepared away from the home is increasing globally, and is an important contributor to population diets in many countries [1]. Eyles et al Nutrition Journal (2018) 17:65 past month, and 27% consumed fast food more than five times in that month [7]. Fast food is of particular concern for population health because it is an independent predictor of body size [9]. Serving sizes of foods and beverages available at fast food restaurants in the US have increased steadily over time [10]
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