The Nutritional Quality of Food Donated to a Western Australian Food Bank

Abstract

Food banks provide an indispensable service to people experiencing severe food insecurity. Food banks source donations from across the food system; however, the food redistributed to clients across the developed world is nutritionally poor. This, together with the increasing prevalence of diet-related diseases and food insecurity, has prompted a focus on nutritional quality. Despite more food being distributed via food banks in Australia, the nutritional quality of donated food remains unreported. This study analyzed all food (84,996 kg (1216 products)) donated to Foodbank WA over a 5-day period using diet-, food-, and nutrient-based nutrition classification schemes (NCSs). A total of 42% (27% of total weight) of donated food products were deemed 'unsuitable' and 19% (23% by weight) were 'suitable' according to all NCSs. There was no agreement on 39% of products (50% by weight). Overall, NOVA and the Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines (HERNG) (κ = 0.521) had the highest level of agreement and the ADGs and HERNGs the lowest (κ = 0.329). The findings confirm the poor nutritional quality of food donated to food banks and the need to work with donors to improve the food they donate. Fit-for-purpose nutrition guidelines are urgently needed for Australian food banks to support them in providing nutritious food to their vulnerable clients.

Keywords: NOVA; dietary guidelines; donation/s; food banks; food insecurity; nutrition; nutrition classification schemes; nutritional quality; ultra-processed food.

Figure A1

Percentage agreement (suitable, mixed, and unsuitable) by food group for each nutrition categorization scheme (Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs), NOVA, and Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines (HERNGs)) grouping.

Figure 1

Number of donated products (total = 1216) by food group donated to FBWA over a 5-day audit.

Figure 2

Nutrition classification of the total number of products donated to FBWA over 5 days by Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs), NOVA, and Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines (HERNGs).

Figure 3

Agreement between each nutrition classification scheme ((NCS), either suitable or unsuitable binary output) using the number of products, weight, and the calculated level of agreement of the number of products using Cohen κ coefficient ¹. ¹ κ coefficient interpreted using values from Landis and Koch [66]: <0.0 = no agreement; 0–0.20 = slight; 0.21–0.40 = fair; 0.41–0.60 = moderate; 0.61–0.80 = substantial; 0.81–1 = almost perfect.