Concerns raised over impact of deliveries

Unregulated, on-demand home deliveries of junk food, alcohol, cigarettes and vaping products have come under fire in a new University of Otago study which calls for urgent government intervention.

The study by the Christchurch campus’ department of population health has highlighted concerns the highly accessible products may be damaging the nation’s health.

Study co-authors Dr Hannah Miles and Dr Brylie Apeldoorn said the growth of online deliveries had been significant and annual revenue was predicted to grow almost 6% over the next three years.

Dr Apeldoorn said the study showed the need for urgent government regulation to keep pace with this predicted growth.

"Our concern is that without appropriate oversight, home deliveries have the potential to increase nutritional, alcohol and nicotine-related harms and counteract government actions to reduce them, including the SmokeFree 2025 goal."

The study identified 130 services offering on-demand, third-party delivery of unhealthy commodities (excluding individual restaurants providing their own deliveries).

More than three-quarters supplied food, 37% alcohol, 23% vaping products and 21% cigarettes.

The study also found 91% had provision for ordering via phone apps, 60% appeared to have product number limits, and 97% used promotions as a marketing strategy.

Dr Miles was surprised at the extent of on-demand delivery access nationwide.

It was available in many smaller towns, raising concerns about the inequity of access to health services from the poor health effects of these products — especially alcohol.

The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 specifies that for remote sales, alcohol delivery must not occur between 11pm and 6am, liquor licences must be displayed on the vendor’s website and the vendor must take reasonable steps for age verification.

However, Dr Apeldoorn said their study found anomalies.

While all services complied with delivery hours, they found cases where liquor licences were only issued for the area where the company is registered — not where it was delivering from, potentially raising problems in areas operating under liquor licensing trusts.

"This raises concern around legal liability for the delivery of restricted items to underage or intoxicated people, and is suggestive of a greater rate of unlawful deliveries among third-party deliverers where the courier company holds no legal liability."

The duo said the study provided vital baseline data to assist future research into the public health and equity impacts of on-demand delivery, and the need for regulation to keep pace with this rapidly evolving technology.