Defining, identifying and regulating dark kitchens in the North of England: perspectives from consumer, local authority and food business stakeholders

Dark kitchens - technology-enabled commercial kitchen(s) operating primarily for delivery, to fulfil remote, on-demand, consumer online orders of food for immediate consumption - are a contemporary addition to the food environment. There are growing concerns around the impact of these food businesses on wider determinants of health, with a paucity of guidelines, regulations and oversight of the dark kitchen sector. This work explored the perceptions of dark kitchens from multiple stakeholder perspectives. This study recruited key stakeholders (consumers, those working in local authorities and dark kitchens) and applied mixed-methods approaches to explore the definition, identification and regulation of dark kitchens. Results show confusion and inconsistencies in the way that consumers, local authority departments and other stakeholders define, identify and regulate dark kitchens, resulting in current regulation being difficult to implement. Where local authorities worked cross-departmentally, a more consistent approach to regulating dark kitchens was observed. The potential risks of dark kitchens to food safety, food hypersensitivities and public health agendas are not fully known and warrant further research and policy development.