Digital opportunities for demand-side policies to improve consumer health and the sustainability of food systems

Digital tools and technologies can assist governments to improve consumer health and the sustainability of food systems. These tools can be used to encourage consumers to buy healthy and nutritious foods and foods produced through sustainable farming practices, as well as to reduce asymmetries of food labelling schemes. They also contribute to more effective food data collection systems that can inform policy decisions, including by combining commercial sales information with national dietary intake survey data. Given the diverse approaches to adopting these digital tools, there is scope for cross-country learning. Current use of digital technologies by some governments ‒ from national dietary guideline websites to dedicated mobile apps ‒ can serve as references for other countries that seek to develop their own digital programmes. While these tools offer useful mechanisms for advancing policy objectives, they will need to be carefully designed to maximisetheir effectiveness and regularly evaluated to avoid excess cost and duplication.