Researchers warn meal delivery apps could undermine global nutrition efforts—here’s how

By Priyanjana Pramanik, MSc.Reviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc.Mar 20 2025

As meal delivery apps push fast food to billions, experts warn they may derail public health efforts—and call for urgent action to track, regulate, and rethink how we eat in the digital age.

Perspective: The emergence of meal delivery applications: a research agenda to advance the next decade of progress in nutrition. Image Credit: aanbetta / Shutterstock

A recent perspective piece in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition discussed how the rise of meal delivery platforms is reshaping global food environments. While these apps have made food more accessible, they may also hinder efforts to promote healthy eating and prevent diet-related diseases. The authors emphasized that these platforms operate with minimal government oversight and may exploit regulatory loopholes, calling for improved regulation and monitoring to mitigate potential risks and ensure they do not undermine global nutrition goals.

A Global Transformation

Digital food environments, including online grocery shopping, meal delivery apps, and meal-kit subscriptions, have changed how people access food, often increasing exposure to unhealthy options. Meal delivery apps, in particular, have expanded rapidly due to smartphone usage and e-commerce growth, with billions of users worldwide.

Research suggests that these apps primarily promote unhealthy fast food through value bundles and algorithmic visibility boosting, potentially contributing to poor diets and rising non-communicable diseases. The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) aims to create supportive food environments, but the rise of digital food platforms may expand access to unhealthy foods beyond traditional neighborhood food environments, undermining these efforts.

Measuring the Effects of Meal Delivery Platforms

Research is needed to assess how meal delivery platforms impact public health. Key areas of study include the types of foods being promoted and sold, reasons for usage, and demographic trends.

The convenience of ordering food for home delivery has contributed to a growing reliance on these platforms, which expanded significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these platforms now also deliver groceries, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals, raising additional public health concerns.

Meal delivery apps largely promote nutrient-poor but energy-dense foods. However, research on consumer purchases and their dietary impact remains limited. Studies show that most orders placed through these apps consist of unhealthy options such as fried chicken and pizza, reinforcing dietary patterns linked to non-communicable diseases.

Young people (ages 16–35) are the most frequent users, making them a critical group to study. Food and beverage companies actively target adolescents through digital platforms to build lifelong brand loyalty. Future research should track real-time food purchases and explore "digital cohorts" to monitor how online food marketing influences young consumers.

Overview of the proposed research agenda to measure, monitor and mitigate the nutrition-related harms which meal delivery apps pose.

Monitoring the Influence of Meal Delivery Platforms

Traditional research on food environments has focused on physical stores and restaurants within specific geographic areas. However, meal delivery platforms create "hybrid" food environments that combine digital and physical food access, challenging traditional neighborhood food availability concepts.

This expansion could worsen existing inequalities, as studies suggest fast-food outlets are more concentrated in lower-income areas. Meal delivery platforms may further expose vulnerable populations to unhealthy food marketing, exacerbating dietary disparities.

Some countries have developed tools to track the growth and impact of meal delivery platforms, but more research is needed to assess how marketing techniques influence consumer behavior. These apps frequently use aggressive marketing strategies, such as discounts and in-app promotions, to steer consumers toward fast food rather than healthier alternatives. Research in this area could support stronger regulations to curb the negative effects of digital food marketing.

Mitigating Risks for Public Health

Currently, meal delivery platforms operate with minimal regulation despite concerns about their potential impact on public health. Research is necessary to determine whether existing policies adequately cover these platforms and how new regulations could be developed.

Policies used in traditional food environments, such as calorie labeling and restrictions on unhealthy food marketing, could be adapted for digital platforms. For example, ensuring that kilojoule labeling laws apply to digital menus, as they do in physical restaurants, could help consumers make more informed choices. Additional measures could include highlighting healthier options in app menus or regulating pricing strategies that incentivize fast-food purchases.

Furthermore, studying corporate tactics used by meal delivery apps can help understand how they resist regulation, similar to strategies used by gambling, food, and alcohol industries. These tactics include lobbying against regulations, framing services as "consumer choice" solutions, and using algorithmic manipulation to promote unhealthy options. Understanding these strategies could inform public health efforts to hold companies accountable and reduce their influence on unhealthy eating habits.

Conclusions

The authors call for a research agenda to assess and regulate the impact of meal delivery platforms on nutrition and public health. This agenda focuses on three key areas:

• Measuring the impact of these platforms on diets and food environments.
• Monitoring their influence using large-scale digital food tracking systems.
• Mitigating health risks through adaptive policy interventions.

With the Nutrition Decade nearing its end, continued efforts are essential to sustain progress in promoting healthier food environments and shaping future global nutrition policies.