A study conducted by the University of Auckland has found that fast food portions in New Zealand are increasing in size, singling out pizzas, desserts, salads and sandwiches as the main culprits.
The research covered 10 major fast food chains and investigated around 5500 menu items. It found that the size of fast food servings had significantly increased between 2012 and 2016.
"We found a five percent increase in serve size over that five-year period,” said study leader Dr Helen Eyles. "It means that people are consuming more energy when they have a fast-food meal but it also means that per serve it's increasing things like the content of sodium and sugar as well."
While new and reformulated products often contained less salt than their older counterparts, the fact that the sizes were so much bigger offset the change.
Elyes said that fast food companies need to work with the government to make sure New Zealanders are better informed about food choices.
"We'd really like some government-led targets for fast-food manufacturers to work towards - some standard serving sizes and sodium content for example," she said. "It would also be great to see fast-food manufacturers including nutritional information, serve size, in the public domain."
