16 december 2023
Bastiaan Wallage explained more about the new tool, developed by an interdisciplinary group of researchers, can assess the health of food supply at street or area level, something not possible before. The scoring system assesses food based on health according to the Disk of Five. The research shows that excessive unhealthy food supply has an impact on choices and health, possibly implying a government duty to intervene, supported by this tool.
There is quite a bit of research on environments where then mostly unhealthy food is offered and that really impacts the people who live there and also go through [the streets]. So the moment you improve that, it has a direct impact on health.Bastiaan Wallage on EenVandaag on the Dutch Radio 1
The tool aims for a more neutral score and could help municipalities promote healthier eateries in new offerings, for example, as closing shops is legally complicated and can raise compensation issues. The study is new and there is no case law on it yet, but Amsterdam municipality already reported it wanted to use this tool in a pilot to see how it works in practice and what the judicial response would be.