Global Nutrition Database for Packaged Food
Australia
National Policy Response
Food reformulation policies
Sodium
Voluntary targets applied to 33 food categories (timeline 2024-2026)
Fat
Voluntary targets applied to 15 food categories (timeline 2024-2026)
Sugar
Voluntary targets applied to 5 food categories (timeline 2024-2026)
Other relevant packaged food policies
Front-of-Package Labeling Regulations
Marketing Restrictions
Voluntary Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI) passed in 2009 limits advertising targeting children and includes restrictions on advertising in schools and promotional giveaways at children’s sports events.
Voluntary Quick Service Restaurant Initiative for Responsible Advertising and Marketing to Children (QSRI) for fast food (passed in 2009) to help promote healthier choices to children.
The advertising industry sets out additional limits on food marketing to children through the Food and Beverages Advertising Code and the Children’s Advertising Code.
Trans Fatty Acid Regulations
None
Fiscal Policies
None
Packaged Food Sampling
2017
| Nutrient types | Sodium | Sugar | Fat |
| Products sampled | 8,434 | 2,875 | 612 |
Methods
Data was obtained from the FoodSwitch database between 2015-2017. The FoodSwitch database contains information on packaged foods collected via three processes: annual collection in four of the largest Australian supermarkets in Sydney: Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Independent Groceries of Australia (IGA); crowd-sourced data from users of the FoodSwitch app; and data provided by the food industry. All nutrient data for foods and beverages are collected from the nutrition information panel and packaging through a series of photographs of the food products.
Food products in the FoodSwitch database were mapped to the Australian government’s Healthy Food Partnership 30 packaged food categories related to sodium, seven categories related to sugar, and five categories related to saturated fat. For each food category, the mean, minimum and maximum values for sodium (mg per 100 g or 100 ml), sugar (g per 100 grams or 100 ml) and saturated fat (g per 100 g) are reported.
For more information on the study methodology, please see the data source below.
Data source
Citation: Rosewarne E, Huang L, Farrand C, et al. Assessing the Healthy Food Partnership’s Proposed Nutrient Reformulation Targets for Foods and Beverages in Australia. Nutrients. 2020;12(5):1346. Published 2020 May 8. doi:10.3390/nu12051346
Contact
Emalie Rosewarne
PhD candidate and Research Assistant, The George Institute for Global Health, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Institution leading data collection
The George Institute for Global Health, The University of New South Wales (developers of FoodSwitch)