Fast-food restaurants in Canberra could be flouting the law by not properly showing the energy content of their food, with new research revealing as many as four in five may be breaking the rules.
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Research from the University of Canberra has exposed huge compliance failures with nutrition laws in ACT fast food outlets.
A survey of 69 fast-food outlets in the ACT has revealed only one in five fully complied with laws requiring them to display the kilojoule content of their meals.
Just over half (55 per cent) were found to be "partially compliant" with the legislation, according to the study by June Lei, Nerida Volker and Vincent Learnihan from the University of Canberra.
Kilojoule display laws were introduced in the ACT three years ago.
One of the study's lead authors June Lei said the preliminary findings from the study potentially indicated a high rate of non-compliance with the legislation.
"It was our own interpretation of the legislation and what 'compliance' was but certainly showed a problem with implementation," said Ms Lei, who is studying her masters in nutrition and dietetics at UC.
Only 21 per cent of the food outlets surveyed were found to fully comply with the laws, the study found.
"Our interpretation of compliance was very strict, so those that are not complying [are] maybe just missing some nutrition information," Ms Lei said.
Ms Lei said kilojoule display laws were an important tool in helping customers make informed decisions about the meals they buy and many retailers were doing a great job in providing them.
"What we hope is that customers before they purchase a meal, they'll be given that nutrition information so they can make an informed choice," she said.
Under the laws, "standard" food outlets must display the average energy content of the items they sell and tell customers that the average adult daily energy intake is 8700 kilojoules.
Only outlets that sell food from seven or more places in Canberra or 50 or more places nationally are required to comply with the laws.
ACT Health would not comment on the study, but a spokeswoman said they were in the process of doing a review of nutrition display laws.
"It is important to acknowledge that kilojoule displays are one part of a broader body of work aimed at providing consumers with nutritional information that will allow them to make informed food choices," she said.
The spokeswoman said public health officers routinely inspected food business and they took an educational approach to help restaurateurs meet requirements, including around kilojoule display laws.
ACT Health has also commissioned a study to look at the public's knowledge of the ACT's kilojoule labelling laws when it comes to decisions about buying food and drinks.
A guide had been developed for food businesses and a pilot project to help food outlets improve nutritional information for customers was launched earlier this year, the spokeswoman said.
The study recommended the high rate of non-compliance in the industry could be addressed by greater enforcement and increased education for retailers.
"We think the legislation may be a bit cumbersome and we hope the government can have more promotion and marketing of the legislation," Ms Lei said.
"[We found] it was difficult for fast food outlets what to do in order to comply [with the laws]. The legislation may be a bit too complex and could be made a bit more simple."
The UC research team recommended the ACT government work with retailers to ensure they have a clear understanding of the requirements of the laws, fix unclear areas of the legislation and continue to promote education and healthy marketing to consumers about daily energy intake and maintaining a healthy diet.
The research, which was recently presented at the Dietitian Association of Australia conference in Melbourne, will ultimately look at all more than 300 fast-food outlets required to comply with the laws, with a final paper on the study expected to be published in the next few months.
