What are the health impacts of online food?

Health Impacts of Online Food

Online food services often promote unhealthy food choices that can negatively impact morbidity and mortality, with most menu items containing excessive sodium, fat, and sugar compared to recommended daily intake values. 1

Types of Online Food Services and Their Health Impacts

Online Food Delivery Platforms

• Most menu items available through online food delivery applications are nutritionally poor:
  • 23 out of 25 ready-to-eat menu items contain more than the recommended daily sodium intake 1
  • 80% of sweet items contain approximately 1.5 times more sugar than daily recommendations 1
  • These platforms predominantly promote unhealthy foods through marketing practices like price discounts and appealing images 2

Online Grocery Shopping

• Mixed health impacts:
  • Some evidence suggests consumers purchase fewer unhealthy foods when shopping online compared to in-store 2
  • However, product comparison is more difficult online, potentially limiting healthy food selection 2
  • Nutritional information is often less accessible online than on physical packaging 3
  • Information is frequently positioned below "the fold" (requiring scrolling), making it less visible during purchasing decisions 3

Meal Kit Subscription Services

• Generally more positive health profile:
  • Offer mostly healthy meals compared to other online food options 2
  • May reduce stress related to meal planning and cooking 2
  • Could potentially support healthier eating patterns

Nutritional Quality Concerns

• Internet recipes are less healthy than both TV chef recipes and supermarket ready meals 4:
  • Only 6 out of 5,237 analyzed internet recipes fully complied with WHO nutritional recommendations 4
  • Internet recipes were less likely to meet guidelines for fat, saturated fat, and fiber 4
  • These recipes had higher sodium content than ready meals but lower than TV chef recipes 4

Potential Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes

Nutritional Warnings

• Including nutritional warnings on food ordering websites significantly reduces selection of unhealthy options:
  • In a study using black octagonal warning signs for excess fat, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium, the percentage of participants selecting items with excessive nutrients decreased from 76% to 62% 5
  • Particularly effective in reducing selection of dishes with excessive total fat (50% vs 62%) 5

Enhanced Digital Tools

• Online platforms could implement features to promote healthier choices:
  • Nutritional filtering options to identify healthier alternatives 3
  • "Health check" features at checkout to evaluate nutritional profile of selected items 3
  • Prominent display of nutritional information above "the fold" to increase visibility 3
  • Tools to compare nutritional content across similar products 3

Recommendations for Consumers

• When using online food services:
  • Look for platforms that provide clear nutritional information
  • Utilize any available filtering options to identify healthier choices
  • Be aware that most online delivery menu items exceed recommended levels of sodium, fat, and sugar 1
  • Consider meal kit services as potentially healthier alternatives to restaurant delivery 2
  • Exercise caution with online recipes, as they typically fail to meet nutritional guidelines 4

Future Directions

The digital food environment is rapidly evolving and presents both challenges and opportunities for public health. While current evidence suggests negative health impacts predominate, particularly with food delivery apps, there is potential to leverage digital platforms to promote healthier eating through improved information, personalization, and decision-support tools 6.