Danes need a wider choice of healthier and more sustainable fast food. A new development project at the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, is helping to ensure this becomes a reality. The goal is to develop delicious new fast food products which live up to the requirements of the Keyhole nutrition label and examine the effect it has on consumer health, the environment and business finances. The project is supported by the Danish AgriFish Agency’s Green Development and Demonstration Programme, GUDP.
Today, the Keyhole label is found on many foods, but in future eating venues and restaurants will also be able to display it. The label requires that the food or meal contains more wholemeal, fruit and vegetables and less salt and comes in suitable portion sizes, while also including aspects such as less waste and using seasonal ingredients.
Danish dietary surveys show that many Danes regularly eat fast food, among other things because it is cheap and convenient. Men eat more than women, young more than old and singles more than families. A lot of fast food has an extremely high energy density, contains a lot of salt while the products are also low on fibre and vegetables. Other surveys show that young people in particular and women want healthier fast food, but that it must still be affordable. Therefore developing better fast food holds considerable potential – in relation to consumer health, the environment and company bottom lines.
Now, the National Food Institute is running a new project to ensure a wider choice and greater availability of Keyhole-labelled fast food meals and dishes. The aim of the project is to help eating venues live up to all the new requirements and create products which also appeal to customer groups which are not particularly concerned with health. The focus will be on developing products that taste good and which meet the new requirements, but also on ensuring that the new Keyhole products make financial sense for businesses.
The project will therefore also assess what effect the new and healthier Keyhole-labelled fast food options have on business finances, on the environment and on consumer health. This knowledge will then be used by and for other types of businesses.
GUDP is providing DKK 4.3 million of funding for the project. This sum is being paid to the National Food Institute, which is heading the project, as well as to DTU Management Engineering and Madkulturen, an independent national initiative working to give Danes better food. Nationwide fast food chains and businesses selling fast food are also participating in project: McDonald’s, DSB, Q8 and Statoil, as well as the following food companies: Arla, Rose Poultry, Lantmannen Unibake and DLG Food. All the companies are financing their own participation. The outcome of the project will thus be directly anchored in the businesses and the daily lives of consumers, and thus has the potential to directly influence Danes’ health.
Read more
Read the press release about the project from the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries: ´75 millioner til sund fastfood og mindre madspild’ (DKK 75 million for healthy fast food and less food waste) (in Danish).
More information about the GUDP programme is also available on the website of the Danish AgriFish Agency (in Danish).