The Nature and Quality of Australian Supermarkets' Policies that can Impact Public Health Nutrition, and Evidence of their Practical Application: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 11; no. 4; p. 853
• Main Authors: Pulker, Claire Elizabeth, Trapp, Georgina S A, Scott, Jane Anne, Pollard, Christina Mary
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15-04-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Allergens; Animal welfare; Consumers; corporate social responsibility; Cost control; Cross-sectional studies; Descriptive labeling; environmental sustainability; Food; food and nutrition policy; Food preferences; Food production; Food selection; Food supply; Health care; Immunoglobulin A; Influence; Labels; Monosodium glutamate; Nutrition; Population; Power; Preservatives; Product information; Profits; Public health; public health nutrition; Sodium glutamate; supermarket; supermarket own brand; Supermarkets; Suppliers; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Taxation; Taxes; Transnationalism; Values; Veganism; Vegetarianism; Netherlands; United Kingdom > UK; Australia; France; Switzerland; Spain; food and nutrition policy; supermarket; environmental sustainability; public health nutrition; corporate social responsibility; supermarket own brand
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu11040853

Improving population diets is a public health priority, and calls have been made for corporations such as supermarkets to contribute. Supermarkets hold a powerful position within the food system, and one source of power is supermarket own brand foods (SOBFs). Many of the world's largest supermarkets have corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies that can impact public health, but little is known about their quality or practical application. This study examines the nature and quality of Australian supermarkets' CSR policies that can impact public health nutrition, and provides evidence of practical applications for SOBFs. A content analysis of CSR policies was conducted. Evidence of supermarkets putting CSR policies into practice was derived from observational audits of 3940 SOBFs in three large exemplar supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths, IGA) in Perth, Western Australia (WA). All supermarkets had some CSR policies that could impact public health nutrition; however, over half related to sustainability, and many lacked specificity. All supermarkets sold some nutritious SOBFs, using marketing techniques that made them visible. Findings suggest Australian supermarket CSR policies are not likely to adequately contribute to improving population diets or sustainability of food systems. Setting robust and meaningful targets, and improving transparency and specificity of CSR policies, would improve the nature and quality of supermarket CSR policies and increase the likelihood of a public health benefit.