Assessing the impact of voluntary food reformulation targets: Mid-point assessment of Australia’s voluntary sodium and saturated fat reduction policy

Abstract

Background/objectives: Most reformulation initiatives worldwide are implemented through voluntary measures. Despite the reliance on voluntary targets, there is limited evidence of their effectiveness. This study aimed to assess the impact of Australia’s voluntary sodium and saturated fat reformulation policy halfway through its four-year implementation period. Subjects/methods: The 2019 and 2022 FoodSwitch databases provided data on the nutritional composition of packaged foods sold by major Australian supermarket retailers. For the food categories targeted by the policy, we assessed changes between 2019 and 2022 in (i) the overall proportions of products that met the sodium and saturated fat targets and (ii) changes in the proportion of products meeting the targets across the top 10 leading food manufacturers. Results: Between 2019 and 2022, there was a small increase in the proportion of products meeting the sodium targets (50.0% in 2019 versus 57.5% in 2022, p < 0.001). Across the top 10 manufacturers that sold products subject to a sodium target, seven made progress towards meeting the targets (ranging from +1.6% to +30.2%). For saturated fat, the proportion of products meeting the targets didn’t change (61.1% in 2019 versus 60.2% in 2022, p = 0.74) and nine of the 10 top manufacturers did not make any progress towards meeting the targets. Conclusion: Midway through the implementation period of Australia’s voluntary sodium and saturated fat targets, food manufacturers have made minimal progress towards meeting the targets, especially for saturated fat.