PHAA wants regulations on automated junk food delivery

The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) is warning governments to prepare for a future involving autonomous vehicles delivering junk food and alcohol 24/7 and the inevitable health implications.

A new study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found that driverless vehicles are expected to be the dominant form of road transport by 2050.

The 40 experts interviewed for the study agreed that driverless vehicles will inevitably be used as an extension of current on-demand food and grocery delivery services.

While this will certainly be convenient, experts are concerned about the impact it will have on population health, according to research lead Professor Simone Pettigrew, Head of Food Policy from the George Institute for Global Health.

“Food delivery is widely associated with unhealthy food and we believe food delivery apps are already feeding obesity rates through junk food availability and reductions in incidental exercise. The experts we spoke to agreed new automated food delivery systems could exacerbate these trends,” she said.

“Imagine the implications if a robot is in your street advertising and selling soft drink, or a drone can bring fries to your backdoor without you even stepping into the street. Convenience could come at the cost of health.”

The PHAA is urging governments and policymakers to ensure they anticipate future trends in food delivery to help alleviate negative health outcomes. PHAA CEO Adjunct Prof Terry Slevin said governments should consider steps ranging from higher licensing fees for vehicles promoting junk food to location restrictions such as bans on the use of the technologies near schools, and even outright bans such as preventing food delivery robots from using footpaths.

“Much of these delivery systems can go straight to kids, bypassing parental controls,” he said. “This is another example of technology being well ahead of our regulatory systems. As we continue to face an obesity crisis that has disappeared from the headlines, we are simply unprepared to protect the community,”

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