Abstract
BackgroundOnline Food Delivery Services (OFDS) have rapidly expanded in North America, but their implications for geographic access to food and potential dietary outcomes of their use are poorly understood. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which OFDS may geographically expand retail food environments. A secondary objective is to evaluate the healthfulness of foods available on mobile OFDS in a large Canadian city using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015).MethodsRetailers’ distance from delivery location was assessed on a large ODFS platform using 24 randomly selected urban postal codes in Ontario, Canada (n = 480 retailers). Distance to the first 10 and the last 10 listed retailers in each postal code was examined in relation to a) city population, b) city population density, and c) whether retailers appeared first or last. Second, to determine the healthfulness of food items available, menus of twelve retailers (n = 759 menu items) from four popular OFDS platforms available in Mississauga, Ontario, were coded using the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies-2015, and Food Patterns Equivalents Database-2015. Coded items were used to derive HEI-2015 scores.ResultsDelivery distances from the sample of postal codes in Ontario ranged from 0.3 km to 9.4 km (mean 3.7 km), and the total number of retailers available to each postal code ranged from 33 to 472. Substantial, positive correlations existed between total number of retailers available and both city population (r = 0.71), and population density (r = 0.51). HEI-2015 scores for retailers’ full menus were typically low, and ranged from 19.95 to 50.78 out of 100.ConclusionsOFDS substantially increases geographic access to foods prepared away from home (by up to 9 km and 472 restaurants). Food offerings on OFDS applications do not meet healthy eating recommendations. Given the projected continued rapid expansion of OFDS, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic, surveillance and future research on OFDS and population dietary health is warranted.
Highlights
Online Food Delivery Services (OFDS) have rapidly expanded in North America, but their implications for geographic access to food and potential dietary outcomes of their use are poorly understood
2: examining healthfulness of OFDS menus The following methods sections describe how we addressed objective two, by examining the diet quality of menus of OFDS retailers serving the city of Mississauga Ontario
1: OFDS and geographic food access The distance between the “delivery location” and retailer ranged from 0.3 km to 9.4 km, with a mean of 3.7 km
Summary
Online Food Delivery Services (OFDS) have rapidly expanded in North America, but their implications for geographic access to food and potential dietary outcomes of their use are poorly understood. FAFH comprises prepared, typically energy-dense foods with low nutritional value, and its consumption has been associated with an increased risk for non-communicable diseases such as obesity, cholesterol and diabetes, among others [4, 5] All of these non-communicable diseases significantly contribute to a country’s disease burden, and subsequent healthcare expenditure [3]. Food environments are typically classified based on geographical access to different types of food sources (e.g., supermarkets or fast food outlets) in a given geographical area [8]. This has included measuring the proximity to, and/or density of supermarkets, convenience stores, fast-food retailers and grocery stores in a particular neighbourhood [8]. Food swamps are categorized by a high density of fast-food outlets and convenience stores (i.e. sources typically understood to provide less nutritious foods), and may promote the consumption of FAFH, subsequently leading to poor health outcomes [9]
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