To propose nutrition-related corporate reporting metrics for Australian packaged food manufacturers, retailers and quick service restaurants, and explore their feasibility of implementation.

Proposed metrics were developed based on: 1) a review of current corporate reporting frameworks and relevant literature to collate nutrition-related recommendations, metrics and principles of best practice reporting; and 2) adaptation of existing recommendations into reporting metrics. Interviews with representatives from 15 food companies were conducted to understand implementation considerations.

Australia

There are a wide range of existing globally-applicable nutrition-related recommendations and reporting metrics for food companies. Based on nine key principles identified for best practice corporate reporting on nutrition, we devised 41 reporting metrics (including five flagged as priorities) tailored to food companies operating in Australia across five focus areas: ‘corporate strategy and governance’, ‘product formulation’, ‘nutrition labelling and information’, ‘promotion practices’, and ‘product accessibility and affordability’. Company representatives expressed support for the proposed metrics, noting that additional information technology infrastructure and resources would be required for their routine reporting by companies.

The proposed set of reporting metrics offer evidence-based guidance for disclosure of nutrition-related actions by Australian food companies. The proposed metrics can inform government, public health groups and investors on best practice approaches to monitor corporate nutrition practices, and guide related policy decisions. Widespread implementation of the reporting metrics would be facilitated by integration with mandatory corporate sustainability reporting standards, with routine monitoring and enforcement by government, coupled with fit-for-purpose tools for comparing the healthiness of company product portfolios.