Tweaks to food delivery apps coax customers to cut calories

NUDGING customers to choose healthier options on takeaway delivery apps could cut their calorie intake by up to 15 per cent, research by the University of Oxford shows.

Small design tweaks, such as promoting low calorie options and making small portions the default choice, led consumers to significantly reduce their food intake, the studies found.

Making healthier foods and restaurants more prominent on the app was the most effective change – leading to an average 15 per cent (209 calories) reduction per order.

Popular food delivery apps in the UK include Ubereats, Justeat and Deliveroo, with about 25 million consumers

‘These studies provide evidence that small tweaks ... could help many people to identify healthier foods’

a year making such purchases – up 55 per cent from 2015.

Researchers said the findings, presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, showed that small changes could have a powerful difference, including making lower calorie options and healthier restaurants prominent on menus, setting default options to smaller portions and displaying nutrition information.

Dr Filippo Bianchi, from the Behavioural Insights Team at innovation agency Nesta, said: “These studies provide encouraging proof-of-concept evidence that small tweaks in delivery apps could help many people to identify and select healthier foods.”

A Just Eat spokesman said: “One of the key aspects of our product development is ensuring customers can easily search and identify the dishes that they want including healthier options, and we have calorie labelling already in place so all partners have the ability to display this information on our app.”