A 2011 review associated eating out with increased energy intake. Popular outlets, nutrient composition, and menus may have changed since 2011. This study aimed to investigate relative contributions of foods prepared outside of home to total energy, total and saturated fat, sugars, and sodium intakes. Studies were included if they were observational cohort or cross-sectional, investigated the contributions that foods prepared out of home made to energy, nutrient intakes and/or nutrient densities of adults aged 18–64 years, published between 2009 and 2019. Socio-demographic differences were explored. Data were extracted guided by the STROBE Statement for cohort and cross-sectional studies. A descriptive, qualitative synthesis was conducted. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklists for Analytical Cross-sectional and Cohort Studies. Evidence strength was assessed using GRADE. Twenty-six studies were included. Higher consumption of foods purchased outside home increased intakes of energy and nutrients of public health concern, particularly in males and younger adults. Heterogeneity of definitions of foods prepared outside of home made comparison difficult. Studies frequently used self-reported consumption data, prone to misreporting. Foods prepared outside of home are associated with poorer diets. Policy and practice initiatives are required to address this.

Objective: Proposed Australian regulation of claims on food labels includes requirements for products carrying a health claim to meet nutrient profiling criteria. This would not apply to nutrition content claims. The present study investigated the number and healthiness of products carrying claims and the impact of the proposed regulation.Design: Observational survey of claims on food packages across three categories: non-alcoholic beverages, breakfast cereals and cereal bars. Nutrient profiling was applied to products carrying claims to determine their eligibility to carry health claims under the proposed regulation.Setting: Three large metropolitan stores from the three major supermarket chains in Sydney, Australia were surveyed in August 2011.Subjects: All claims on 1028 products were recorded. Nutrition composition and ingredients were collected from the packaging, enabling nutrient profiling. The proportion of products in each category carrying claims and the proportion of these that did not meet the nutrient profiling criteria were calculated.Results: Two-thirds of products in the three categories (ranging from 18 to 78 %) carried at least one claim. Of those carrying health claims, 31 % did not meet the nutrient profiling criteria. These would be ineligible to carry these claims under the proposed regulation. Additionally, 29 % of products carrying nutrition content claims did not meet the nutrient profiling criteria.Conclusions: The number of products carrying nutrition content claims that did not meet the nutrient profiling criteria suggests that comprehensive regulation is warranted. Promotion of unhealthy foods using claims is potentially misleading for consumers and hinders their ability to select healthier foods. Implementation of the proposed regulation represents an improvement to current practice.

In response to rising childhood obesity rates, the Australian food industry implemented two initiatives in 2009 to reduce the marketing of unhealthy food to children. This study evaluated the efficacy of these initiatives on the rate of unhealthy food advertising to children on Australian television. The rates of food advertisements on three free-to-air commercial television channels and a youth-oriented digital channel in Sydney, Australia were analysed over 2 weekdays (16 h) and two weekend days (22 h). Advertisements were categorized according to the healthiness of foods advertised (non-core, core, miscellaneous) and signatory status to the food industry advertising initiatives. Total food advertising rates for the three channels increased from 5.5/h in 2011 to 7.3/h in 2015, due to an increase of 0.8/h for both core and miscellaneous foods. The rate of non-core food advertisements in 2015 (3.1/h) was similar to 2011 (3.0/h). The youth-oriented channel had fewer total food advertisements (3.7/h versus 7.3/h) but similar fast-food advertisement rates (1.3/h versus 1.3/h). There was no change in the rate of unhealthy food advertising since 2011, suggesting minimal impact of the current food industry initiatives on reducing children's exposure to unhealthy food advertising.