www.foodtechnology.co.nz 19
Product and brand promotion 30% 25% 25%
Product accessibility 5% 20% 20%
Relationships with other organisations 5% 5% 5%
Dashboard of food company policies & commitments – New Zealand 2017
* Full engagement; § Unable to be contacted; & Willing to partciipate but survey not returned on time; # Declined participation
For §, & and #: Assessment based on publically available information only
(1) Packaged food manufacturers, (2) Non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers, (3) Supermarkets, (4) Quick service restaurants
the top performers,” Kasture says. “But
companies could play a much greater
role. There was a large variation in the
scores from 0 to 75 out of 100, with eight
companies scoring less than 20.”
Some NZ food companies, Kasture says,
are performing well and are meeting
good practice benchmarks. In all
sectors, companies are incorporating
population nutrition and/or obesity prevention
in their overarching corporate
strategy to some extent, and there is a
push to reformulate products to reduce
levels of sodium. Companies are trying
to reduce sugar in specific food categories,
and are committed to the Health
Star Ratings on food products. Most
understand the Advertising Standards
Authority’s children and young people’s
advertising code, but that’s where the
good news ends.
“There is considerable room for
improvement for most companies,”
Kasture says. “The conversion of commitments
into practice needs further
evaluation. Stronger action is needed
COMPANIES
THAT TOOK
PART IN
THE STUDY:
Arnott’s,
Fonterra, George
Weston Foods,
Goodman Fielder,
Griffin’s Foods,
Heinz, Wattie’s,
Hellers, Kellogg’s,
Mars, McCain
Foods, Mondelez,
Nestle, PepsiCo,
Sanitarium,
Unilever,
Coca-Cola,
Frucor Suntory,
Countdown,
Foodstuffs,
Burger King,
Domino’s,
McDonald’s,
Restaurant
Brands, Pita Pit
and Subway.
The conversion
of commitments
into practice
needs further
evaluation.
Stronger
action is needed
across all
four sectors to
improve food
environments
and population
nutrition.
Page 4 BIA Obesity | New Zealand 2018
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Nestlé (1)*
Fonterra (1)*
Coca-Cola (2)*
Mars (1)*
Unilever (1)*
Sanitarium (1)*
Countdown (3)*
Arnott's (1)*
PepsiCo (1)*
Frucor Suntory (2)#
Kellogg's (1)#
McDonald's (4)*
Mondelēz (1)§
Foodstuffs (3)#
Restaurant Brands (4)*
George Weston Foods (1)*
Heinz Wattie's (1)#
McCain Foods (1)§
Subway (4)§
Burger King (4)&
Domino's (4)#
Pita Pit (4)§
Griffin's Foods (1)#
Hellers (1)§
Goodman Fielder (1)#
Corporate population nutrition strategy
Product formulation
Product labelling
Product and brand promotion
Product accessibility
Relationships with other organisations
Overall scores 0 10
across all four sectors to improve food
environments and population nutrition.”
MENTION the study to Katherine Rich,
and you get a slightly different perspective.
The head of the NZ Food and Grocery
Council says manufacturers come
out of the survey relatively well, “given
the slanted criteria. Food manufacturers
are very conscious of the issues around
obesity and its causes, and are continuing
to do a huge amount of work around
reformulation to remove salt, fat and
sugar,” she says. “There are now more
low-cal and no-cal product options available
to consumers than ever before. The
seriousness with which manufacturers
take the issue is evidenced by the more
than 3600 products on supermarket
shelves that carry Health Star labelling.”
Many companies have nutritionists
who advise on product ingredients,
Rich says. “Including in the study that
some companies declined to participate
was misleading. It was like pronouncing
someone last in a race they didn’t
enter. Researchers should never assume
that, because they haven’t been able to
secure information, that it doesn’t exist.
Ranking companies that didn’t take part
showed that part of the research was
to ‘name and shame’, and that seldom
achieves anything apart from publicity.”
PROFESSOR Boyd Swinburn, wellknown
health advocate and Kasture’s study
supervisor, is more sceptical. “Many
food and beverage manufacturers
and supermarkets are reformulating
products to reduce levels of sodium and
have targets to reduce sugar, but this
is highly variable and rarely measureable,”
he says. “Nestlé has a target for
lowering sodium, sugar and saturated
content. Frucor Suntory commits to
have one-in-three products sold to be
low or no sugar by 2030. (However),
more companies could develop targets
to reduce sodium, sugar, saturated fat,
trans fat and portion sizes. Companies
really could go beyond the existing weak
Code and include children up to the
age of 18 years in marketing policies,
and stop using promotions like cartoon
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