Submitted to the Department of Health (August 2021).

Dietitians Australia has submitted feedback to the Healthy Food Partnership, Department of Health about the draft Healthy Food Partnership Voluntary Industry Best Practice Guide for Serving Sizes.

We support portion guidance and serving size goals as a complementary public health measure, if accompanied by a transparent monitoring and evaluation plan. We have concerns about some serving size targets and recommend that all targets be at least 10% lower than the current 66th percentile size.

Portion guidance and serving size goals are a complementary measure and should not be standalone. Dietitians Australia calls on the government to commit to evidence-based initiatives to address unhealthy eating patterns in Australia. These include:

• Comprehensive regulation to protect children under 18 years from exposure to unhealthy food marketing

• Mandatory front of pack labelling scheme that promotes healthy food options

• Strengthening the Nutrition Content and Health Claims Standard

• A health levy on sugar-sweetened beverages

• Restricted promotion (including discounting and multi-buy offers) of unhealthy food and drinks, and increased promotion of healthy food options

For more download our full submission.