Food for Health Alliance

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Food for Health Alliance

Australia's leading policy & advocacy voice working to improve diets & prevent overweight & obesity.

Food for Health Alliance (formerly known as the Obesity Policy Coalition) is a leading policy and advocacy voice working to improve diets and prevent overweight and obesity in Australia, particularly for children. We advocate to governments for laws and policies to improve our food environment – the way our food is made, labelled, sold and advertised. By changing our food environment, we can help to create a world that supports health and wellbeing, making it easier for all Australians to live well. Our key priority areas are protecting children from unhealthy food marketing, improving food labelling, improving foods for babies and toddlers, and influencing changes to how foods are priced and taxed. We also focus on the frameworks that influence these key issues, including national strategies, international guidance, and the regulation of the food system. Our work is informed by current evidence, and we work with researchers, health professionals and other policy experts to build, inform and communicate the evidence on diets, obesity prevention, trends, and impacts. Our partners are Cancer Council Victoria, VicHealth and the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition at Deakin University.

08/01/2026

Great news from the UK! Earlier this week their ban on advertising unhealthy foods to children came into effect. The ban prohibits unhealthy food marketing on television between 5:30am and 9pm, and paid advertising online.

We're urging the Australian Government to follow suite and take swift action to protect children from unhealthy food and drink advertising.

Just like in the UK, Australian children deserve to be able to watch their favourite TV shows and go online to study, play games or socialise without being targeted by the processed food industry’s sophisticated marketing tactics.

Want to help? Join the Brands off our Kids campaign!
https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/campaigns/brands-off-our-kids

03/01/2026

Kids should be free to enjoy their favourite shows without being bombarded with ads for unhealthy food and drinks.

But right now the processed food industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year targeting Australian children with marketing in every aspect of their lives, surrounding them like wallpaper.

Join the Brands off our Kids! campaign to help us change this.

https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/campaigns/brands-off-our-kids

23/12/2025

Parents want to do the right thing for their children. But packaged baby and toddler food companies are misleading caregivers, leading them to believe these foods are healthy when many are not.

New research found that less than 20% of baby and toddler snack foods sold in Australian supermarkets meet international recommendations for nutrition.

Parents expect that what goes into these foods and how they're marketed is tightly regulated, but right now that isn't the case.

Together we can change this. Add your name to our petition calling for comprehensive government regulation on baby and toddler foods.

https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/campaigns/kids-are-sweet-enough/petition

09/12/2025

New research has revealed that the majority of commercial snack foods for babies and toddlers in Australian supermarkets are ultra-processed, overly sweet, and fail to meet nutrition standards.

The first 1000 days of a child's life is crucial to their development and long-term health. Yet, snack foods - which make up almost a third of packaged baby and toddler foods - were overwhelmingly ultra-processed (63%), sweet (77%) and less than 20% of them met all international recommendations for nutrition.

This research confirms that more needs to be done to regulate the booming baby and toddler snack food industry.

Australia’s baby and toddler snack food market is a multi-million-dollar industry, government intervention is needed to ensure profits don’t come at the expense of children’s health.

FHA are calling for for comprehensive regulations to the composition and marketing of baby and toddler foods, including:

1. No snacks on the market for babies. These are not recommended under infant feeding guidelines.

2. Snacks for toddlers should align with global health recommendations and not be marketed as part of everyday diets.

Read our media release to find out more: https://www.foodforhealthalliance.org.au/media-news/media-release/2025/ultra-processed-baby-and-toddler-snack-foods-lead-youngest-aussies-to-unhealthy-future.html

28/11/2025

"Why are toddler food companies allowed to get away with misleading parents of babies and toddlers in this way?"

Meet Generation Victoria - GenV dad Drew. He's a dad with a two-year-old from Melbourne, and nutrition is really important to him.

Like many parents, he once assumed that packaged foods for babies and toddlers were tightly regulated in Australia.

But the sad reality is they are not.

“If I buy these products, I feel I should be able to trust that what's being sold to me is nutritious," he said.

"It shouldn’t take a science degree to figure out what’s really in the food," he said.

A recent survey of over 7,000 GenV (short for Generation Victoria) parents shows that nearly all parents believe these foods should be better regulated.

If you share Drew's concerns, sign up to support our Kids Are Sweet Enough campaign today.

With your help, we're calling for baby and toddler food companies to be held to higher standards in Australia. More information on our website: https://bit.ly/3IKRMen | VicHealth

23/11/2025

The first three years of a child’s life are essential for their development. So it’s crucial that foods marketed as being suitable for them support their health.

But our past research found some toddler snack products sold in Australia contain as much sugar as confectionary. 🍭

It's clear regulation around these foods is urgently needed in Australia.

This is even more important now with recently launched data showing a majority of Australian toddlers consume these foods.

We need to keep the pressure on decisionmakers to put our children’s health first.

Add the word ‘petition’ in the comments and we will send you the link to add your name. ✍️

21/11/2025

Of children who have tried packaged baby and toddler foods before, 9 in 10 started eating them within the first 12 months of their life, according to a survey by Murdoch Children's Research Institute - MCRI launched this week.

When you learn that most of these don't support children's health, these stats are pretty concerning.

We need government to step in and hold baby and toddler food companies to higher standards. Parents should be able to trust these foods are healthy.

Join us in calling for change. Sign up to support our Kids Are Sweet Enough campaign today: https://bit.ly/3IKRMen

18/11/2025

Most toddler food products sold in Aussie supermarkets do not meet nutrition standards set by the World Health Organization.

Now a largest-of-its-kind survey of more than 7,000 parents has exposed just how often these foods being eaten by young Australians.

According to the landmark research by Murdoch Rese, 8 in 10 (80%) children aged 18 months to 4 years ate packaged toddler foods in the month of the survey.

Nearly half (43%) consumed packaged toddler foods on five or more days per week in the last month.

This data makes it clearer than ever that regulation around these foods, including how much salt and sugar can go into them, must be prioritised to protect young children's health.

Read the full media release: https://bit.ly/4o2oaIg

17/11/2025

Time’s up for food manufacturers to comply with Health Star Ratings.

Industry has had years to meet the government’s voluntary targets, but new research by The George Institute for Global Health has shown that just 37% have adopted the rating system, falling well and truly short of the 70% target.

The wilful failure of industry to meet voluntary targets shows just how important it is that Health Star Ratings become mandatory.

Food companies have been exploiting the Health Star Rating system for years by cherry picking which products they label – typically favouring their higher rating products.

Making the system mandatory will make it easier for Australians to buy healthier options and push food companies to improve the nutrition of their products.

Read our joint media release withThe George Institute for Global Health and VicHealth: https://bit.ly/3XkaKwt

31/10/2025

Contrary to what the marketing may lead you to believe toddler milks, are unnecessary and offer no nutritional benefit beyond what young children ingest from regular food.

That’s why today we’ve welcomed a draft determination released by the Australian Taxation Office, clarifying that GST does apply to toddler milk products.

We hope this move will help encourage more Australian families to reconsider buying these expensive products altogether and switch to water and cow’s milk.

Find more information in our media release through our website: https://bit.ly/4oKMaAg

24/10/2025

What are the forces driving our choices before we hit the supermarket check-out? 🧠

We joined the latest episode of the PsychTalks podcast by The University of Melbourne to unpack the clever marketing tactics used by food companies and supermarkets to influence what ends up in our shopping trolleys.

The episode also explores how government action can help ensure Australians have access to clear, honest information to make healthier choices.

Listen now: https://bit.ly/43vIQ3R

17/10/2025

Research shows unhealthy foods in Australia are put on special about twice as often as nutritious foods. We know this marketing tactic can lure shoppers to buy more unhealthy products than intended.

England's taken action, stopping supermarkets since this month from having multi-buy and buy-one-get-one free deals on unhealthy foods to protect public health. It’s time Australia did the same.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/478jXw3

Address

Level 8, 200 Victoria Parade
Melbourne, VIC
3002

Website

https://foodforhealthalliance.org.au/

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