Attitudes to food and nutrition policy from five different sectors in Australia

This study attempted to examine the views of representatives of five sectors of the Australian food and nutrition system about ways in which consumers' nutrition status can be strengthened. The study was conducted in two stages: stage one was in the form of a postal Delphi survey in which 56 representatives drawn from the farming, food processing, regulatory, food safety and nutrition sectors were asked to suggest ways to improve the Australian food sytem. These results were summarised in the form of a short 64 item opinion statement inventory. In stage two this was completed (via postal administration) by 253 representatives from the same five sectors. The findings show that there was widespread support for policy proposals to do with education and enforcement of current regulations. However, there were also major differences between the groups. Multidimensional scaling and discriminant analytic approaches showed that food processors and regulators tended to hold views supportive of the present status quo, whereas nutritionists and, to a lesser extent, farmers and food safety personnel supported changes to the system. The possible causes of these differences are discussed along with the implications of the findings for the implementation of the Australian food and nutrition policy.