Abstract
Objective
This study aimed to characterize the availability of calorie labelling on major online food delivery (OFD) platforms for the largest restaurant brands in Canada to examine differences in provinces with and those without mandatory calorie labelling regulations.
Methods
Data were collected for the 13 largest restaurant brands with locations in Ontario (with mandatory menu labelling) and Alberta and Quebec (with no mandatory menu labelling) from the web applications of the three largest OFD platforms in Canada. Data were sampled from three selected restaurant locations within each province (n = 117 locations across all provinces) on each platform. Univariate logistic regression models were used to test differences in the presence and amount of calorie labelling and other nutritional information across provinces and platforms.
Results
The analytical sample included 48,857 food and beverage items (n = 16,011 in Alberta, n = 16,683 in Ontario, and n = 16,163 in Quebec). Items were more likely to have menu labelling in Ontario (68.7%) than in Alberta (44.4%, OR = 2.75, 95% CI 2.63–2.88) or Quebec (39.1%, OR = 3.42, 95% CI 3.27–3.58). In Ontario, 53.8% of restaurant brands had calorie labelling for > 90% of items, compared to 23.0% in Quebec and 15.4% in Alberta. The presence of calorie labelling also differed across platforms.
Conclusion
Nutrition information from OFD services differed across provinces with and those without mandatory calorie labelling. Chain restaurants on OFD service platforms were more likely to provide calorie information in Ontario, where calorie labelling is mandatory, compared to elsewhere where no such policy exists. In all provinces, calorie labelling was inconsistently implemented across OFD service platforms.
Résumé
Objectif
Cette étude vise à caractériser la disponibilité de l’affichage des calories sur les principales plateformes de service de livraison de repas en ligne (SLRL) pour les plus grandes chaines de restaurants au Canada pour évaluer les différences entre les provinces dotées d’une réglementation sur l’étiquetage obligatoire des calories et celles où une telle politique est inexistante.
Méthodologie
Les données ont été recueillies pour les 13 plus grandes chaines de restaurants ayant des établissements en Ontario (avec étiquetage des menus obligatoire) et en Alberta et au Québec (étiquetage des menus non obligatoire) sur les applications web des trois principales plateformes de SLRL au Canada. Les données ont été échantillonnées à partir de trois succursales pour chaque chaine de restaurants dans chacune des provinces (n = 117 restaurants dans toutes les provinces) sur chaque plateforme. Des modèles de régression logistique univariés ont été utilisés pour tester les différences dans la présence et la prévalence de l’affichage des calories et d’autres informations nutritionnelles entre les provinces et les plateformes.
Résultats
L’échantillon analysé comprenait 48 857 produits alimentaires et boissons (n = 16 011 en Alberta, n = 16 683 en Ontario et n = 16 163 au Québec). Les calories étaient plus susceptibles d’être affichées sur les produits en Ontario (68,7 %) comparativement à l’Alberta (44,4 %, RC = 2,75, IC 95% 2,63–2,88) ou au Québec (39,1 %, RC = 3,42, IC 95% 3,27–3,58). En Ontario, 53,8 % des restaurants affichaient les calories pour > 90 % des produits, contre 23,0 % au Québec et 15,4 % en Alberta. La présence de l’affichage des calories différait également d’une plateforme à l’autre.
Conclusion
L’information nutritionnelle sur les plateformes de SLRL différait entre les provinces disposant d’une réglementation sur l’affichage des calories et celles sans une telle réglementation. Les chaines de restaurants sur les plateformes de SLRL avaient davantage tendance à afficher les calories en Ontario, où ce type d’affichage est obligatoire, qu’ailleurs, où une telle politique est inexistante. D’une province à l’autre, l’affichage des calories n’a pas été mis en œuvre de manière uniforme sur les différentes plateformes de SLRL.
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Availability of data and materials
Datasets analyzed in this study are available upon request to the authors.
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Funding
This project was supported in full by the Centre Nutrition, santé et société (NUTRISS) at Université Laval. NUTRISS is supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Santé (FRQS). AGH is a student funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s award provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, as well as a Master’s Training Award for Applicants with a Professional Degree from the FRQS (#312301). LV is a FRQS Junior 1 scholar.
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LV: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, supervision, writing — original draft. AGH: methodology, data collection, writing — original draft. ML: conceptualization, methodology, data collection, writing — original draft. CV: methodology, writing — review and editing. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Vanderlee, L., Gaucher-Holm, A., Lê-Brassard, M. et al. Availability of calorie information on online food delivery service platforms among major chain restaurants in Canadian provinces with different calorie labelling policies. Can J Public Health 114, 983–991 (2023). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-023-00788-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-023-00788-z