Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas says it is time to develop a national plan to cut the amounts of energy, fat, sugar and salt in fast food.

Mr Lucas is taking his proposal to a Ministerial Council meeting today in Adelaide, hoping to win support for a plan he argues will help tackle Australia's obesity problem.

He is also urging the nation's health ministers to agree on standards for the display of nutritional information on product packaging, and on menu boards.

Australia's fast food outlets sold 1.6 billion meals last year - that means 4.5 million Australians visited a fast food outlet every day.

Mr Lucas says the fast food habit is having a devastating effect on the nation's health.

"In 1980, 8 per cent of the Australian population was obese. Today it is 25 per cent and the real problem is we have got an epidemic of diabetes," he said.

"If someone ends up on dialysis at the end of that, that is $80,000 a year to treat. This is an epidemic and it is one that we have to take action on."

Discussions are already underway about forcing fast food outlets to display nutritional information on product packaging and menu boards to help customers choose healthier food.

Some states have already moved in that direction but Mr Lucas says there must be a consistent national approach.

"Frankly it is also important that we agree on what should be there. The last thing you want to do is to have 30 or 40 bits of information that in fact crowd people out of meaningful information," he said.

"You actually need to have stuff that people can read and understand."

Cutting the fat

The chief executive of the Heart Foundation in Queensland, Cameron Prout, says without a comprehensive nutritional profile Australians simply do not know what they are getting when they order fast food.

"When people do walk into a food court by themselves or if parents are taking their children along, you look around at the many options available and you don't really know how much energy is in a serve, how much saturated fat, whether or not they are trans fats, what sort of oil it has been cooked in, how much salt is in those meals," he said.

"All Australians really need that guidance at the point of sale so we know if we are choosing a healthier option and we can make that decision if that information is right there in front of us on the menu board."

But Mr Lucas acknowledges Australians will continue to eat fast food even with clear nutritional guidance.

He says governments have a responsibility to encourage outlets to cut the amount of energy, fat, sugar and salt in their food.

"All of those things could actually make a difference without actually banning fast food, because frankly whilst it will be great if it happened, it is really unrealistic in this modern world," he said.

"One needs to acknowledge that a number of the larger chains have gone down the path of healthy food choices and with varying degrees of success and we certainly concede that is offered to people, there has been a change in dietary patterns."

Mr Lucas says he would prefer to work cooperatively with the industry to improve the nutritional quality of fast food, although he would be prepared to force them to comply.

"One thing is for sure, doing nothing is not an option here because frankly, we can't leave it too much longer or we'll pay the penalty in ever-increasing health costs but more importantly if people aren't well," he said.