Aim
Explore policy options to improve the composition and healthfulness of the food supply in Australia and New Zealand.
Leads
The leads for this activity are the:
- Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
- New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries
Authorisation
The food ministers agreed at their August 2019 meeting to progress trans fats and sugar sweetened beverages as activities to help reduce chronic disease related to overweight and obesity.
Status
The work on sugar sweetened beverages is at Step D (define success) of the Food Regulation Policy Framework.
We are now:
- summarising consultation submissions to develop a decision regulation impact statement for trans fats with a preferred policy option for the food ministers
- expecting to start work on sugar sweetened beverages in early 2024.
Completed consultation on trans fats
We drafted a trans fat policy paper to explore:
- current trans fat consumption and contribution to chronic disease
- actions underway to reduce trans fat
- proposed actions to eliminate or reduce trans fat in Australia and New Zealand.
We ran a consultation on trans fats from 4 August to 29 September 2023. The submissions will inform a decision regulation impact statement.
Completed policy paper
As part of this activity, we developed a policy paper that explored:
- current key nutrient intakes in Australia and New Zealand
- the foods or food categories that are major contributors of those nutrients
- potential food categories or nutrients that would improve population health
- current voluntary approaches in Australia and New Zealand
- international approaches that have been implemented.
It identified 2 possible case studies for improving the composition of the food supply:
- trans fats
- sugar sweetened beverages.
Work to progress these through the policy framework was delayed due to COVID-19.
Related information
View all the activities to reduce chronic disease related to overweight and obesity.