Hunger for Home Delivery: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Nutritional Quality of Complete Menus on an Online Food Delivery Platform in Australia

Abstract

Online food delivery (OFD) platforms have changed how consumers purchase food prepared outside of home by capitalising on convenience and smartphone technology. Independent food outlets encompass a substantial proportion of partnering outlets, but their offerings’ nutritional quality is understudied. Little is also known as to how OFD platforms influence consumer choice. This study evaluated the nutritional quality and marketing attributes of offerings from independent takeaway outlets available on Sydney’s market-leading OFD platform (UberEats®). Complete menus and marketing attributes from 202 popular outlets were collected using web scraping. All 13841 menu items were classified into 38 food and beverage categories based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Of complete menus, 80.5% (11,139/13,841) were discretionary and 42.3% (5849/13,841) were discretionary cereal-based mixed meals, the largest of the 38 categories. Discretionary menu items were more likely to be categorised as most popular (OR: 2.5, 95% CI 1.9–3.2), accompanied by an image (OR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.2–1.5) and offered as a value bundle (OR: 6.5, 95% CI 4.8–8.9). Two of the three discretionary food categories were more expensive than their healthier Five Food Group counterparts (p < 0.02). The ubiquity of discretionary choices offered by independent takeaways and the marketing attributes employed by OFD platforms has implications for public health policy. Further research on the contribution of discretionary choices and marketing attributes to nutritional intakes is warranted.

Associations between online food outlet access and online food delivery service use amongst adults in the UK: a cross-sectional analysis of linked data

“…However, as these interventions often include food outlets registered to accept orders through online food delivery services, they could be well-placed to help improve the nutritional quality of food accessible online. It should be noted that food available through online food delivery services does not always have an unfavourable nutrient profile [ 25 , 71 ]. Implementation of public health policies with a single point of intervention (i.e.…”

“…Whilst they are not comparable to internationally established online food delivery services, their emergence suggests a normalisation towards accessing and purchasing food prepared away-from-home online, which is reflected in a forecasted increase in online food delivery service use [16]. Since foods available online are typically unhealthy [25], public health policies that include online food delivery services and address online food outlet access may be required in the future. Interventions that aim to improve the nutritional quality of food prepared away-from-home are widespread but can be highly resource intensive to deliver and sustain [68][69][70].…”

“…As taste preferences contribute to food choices [24], another possible determinant of online food delivery service use is the type of cuisine sold by accessible food outlets. Finally, food available through online food delivery services is typically energy-dense and nutrient-poor [23,25]. Since consumption of such food has been associated with weight gain over time [26,27], it is plausible that greater online food outlet access is associated with living with a higher bodyweight.…”

Socioeconomic inequalities in food outlet access through an online food delivery service in England: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis

“…Online food delivery services have the potential to increase food outlet access to those with limited mobility or those in rural areas, which might benefit public health. However, the foods available online through these services are typically unhealthy ( Partridge et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ), therefore, greater access could be an additional public health burden. Lastly, public health interventions have been developed and adopted to address physical food outlet access through urban planning (zoning).…”

“…As such, inequalities in physical food outlet access may be reflected in online food outlet access. Since foods sold through online platforms are recognised as unhealthy, with an energy-dense and nutrient-poor composition ( Wang et al, 2021 ), existing systematic differences in diet and diet-related health could be exacerbated. However, this remains poorly investigated and unconfirmed.…”