tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/big-food-11382/articlesBig food – The Conversation2024-03-17T19:01:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2256682024-03-17T19:01:29Z2024-03-17T19:01:29ZWhy is toddler milk so popular? Follow the money<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582110/original/file-20240315-28-i7q9zu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C997%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/toddler-hands-holding-cup-white-fresh-2057012747">FotoDuets/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Toddler milk is popular and becoming more so. Just over a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jhn.12851">third of Australian toddlers</a> drink it. Parents <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01933-X/fulltext">spend</a> hundreds of millions of dollars on it globally. Around the world, toddler milk makes up nearly half of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mcn.13097">total formula milk sales</a>, with a 200% growth since 2005. Growth is expected to continue.</p>
<p>We’re concerned about the growing popularity of toddler milk – about its nutritional content, cost, how it’s marketed, and about the impact on the health and feeding of young children. Some of us voiced our concerns on the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-12/toddler-milk-nutrition-benefits-marketing-parents/103517864">ABC’s 7.30 program recently</a>.</p>
<p>But what’s in toddler milk? How does it compare to cow’s milk? How did it become so popular?</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gOFTZmptaN0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">We shared our concerns about toddler milk and what this means for parents and children.</span></figcaption>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/misleading-food-labels-contribute-to-babies-and-toddlers-eating-too-much-sugar-3-things-parents-can-do-194168">Misleading food labels contribute to babies and toddlers eating too much sugar. 3 things parents can do</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>What is toddler milk? Is it healthy?</h2>
<p>Toddler milk is marketed as appropriate for children aged one to three years. This <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10140693/">ultra-processed food</a> <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/nutrition-and-packaging-characteristics-of-toddler-foods-and-milks-in-australia/1C6BA80843B773FC058BD3087D1A22BA">contains</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>skim milk powder (cow, soy or goat)</p></li>
<li><p>vegetable oil</p></li>
<li><p>sugars (including added sugars)</p></li>
<li><p>emulsifiers (to help bind the ingredients and improve the texture)</p></li>
<li><p>added vitamins and minerals.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Toddler milk <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/nutrition-and-packaging-characteristics-of-toddler-foods-and-milks-in-australia/1C6BA80843B773FC058BD3087D1A22BA">is usually</a> lower in calcium and protein, and higher in sugar and calories than regular cow’s milk. Depending on the brand, a serve of toddler milk can contain as much sugar as a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/nutrition-and-packaging-characteristics-of-toddler-foods-and-milks-in-australia/1C6BA80843B773FC058BD3087D1A22BA">soft drink</a>. </p>
<p>Even though toddler milks have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-019-01950-5">added vitamins and minerals</a>, these are <a href="https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/373358/9789240081864-eng.pdf?sequence=1">found in and better absorbed</a> from <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/synthetic-vs-natural-nutrients">regular foods and breastmilk</a>. Toddlers do not need the level of nutrients found in these products if they are eating a varied diet. </p>
<p>Global health authorities, including the <a href="https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/373358/9789240081864-eng.pdf?sequence=1">World Health Organization</a> (WHO), and Australia’s <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/the_guidelines/n56_infant_feeding_guidelines_150917(1).pdf">National Health and Medical Research Council</a>, do not recommend toddler milk for healthy toddlers.</p>
<p>Some children with specific metabolic or dietary medical problems might need tailored alternatives to cow’s milk. However, these products generally are not toddler milks and would be a specific product prescribed by a health-care provider. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.choice.com.au/babies-and-kids/feeding-your-baby/first-foods/articles/are-toddler-milks-necessary">Toddler milk</a> is also up to <a href="https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-022-00765-1">four to five times</a> more expensive than regular cow’s milk. “Premium” toddler milk (the same product, with higher levels of vitamins and minerals) is more expensive. </p>
<p>With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/undernourished-stressed-and-overworked-cost-of-living-pressures-are-taking-a-toll-on-australians-health-223625">cost-of-living crisis</a>, this means families might choose to go without other essentials to afford toddler milk.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman holding blue plastic spoon of formula powder over open tin of formula, milk bottle in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582090/original/file-20240315-30-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toddler milk is more expensive than cow’s milk and contains more sugar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/powder-milk-blue-spoon-on-light-779728180">Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/8-everyday-foods-you-might-not-realise-are-ultra-processed-and-how-to-spot-them-197993">8 everyday foods you might not realise are ultra processed – and how to spot them</a>
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</em>
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<h2>How toddler milk was invented</h2>
<p>Toddler milk was created so infant formula companies could <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/nutritionlibrary/breastfeeding/information-note-cross-promotion-infant-formula.pdf?sfvrsn=81a5b79c_1">get around rules</a> preventing them from advertising their infant formula. </p>
<p>When manufacturers <a href="https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(21)01197-7/abstract">claim benefits</a> of their toddler milk, many parents assume these claimed benefits apply to infant formula (known as <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/nutritionlibrary/breastfeeding/information-note-cross-promotion-infant-formula.pdf?sfvrsn=81a5b79c_1">cross-promotion</a>). In other words, marketing toddler milks also boosts interest in their infant formula.</p>
<p>Manufacturers also create brand loyalty and recognition by making the labels of their toddler milk look similar to their infant formula. For parents who used infant formula, toddler milk is positioned as the next stage in feeding.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-youre-feeding-with-formula-heres-what-you-can-do-to-promote-your-babys-healthy-growth-106165">If you're feeding with formula, here's what you can do to promote your baby's healthy growth</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How toddler milk became so popular</h2>
<p>Toddler milk is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article-abstract/82/3/425/7172846?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false">heavily marketed</a>. Parents <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37203416/">are told</a> toddler milk is healthy and provides extra nutrition. Marketing <a href="https://uconnruddcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2909/2020/09/Infant-Formula-and-Toddler-Milk-Brief_9-23-19.pdf">tells parents</a> it will benefit their child’s growth and development, their brain function and their immune system.</p>
<p>Toddler milk is also presented as a <a href="https://uconnruddcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2909/2020/09/Infant-Formula-and-Toddler-Milk-Brief_9-23-19.pdf">solution</a> to fussy eating, which is common in toddlers.</p>
<p>However, regularly drinking toddler milk could increase the risk of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kathy-Cowbrough-2/publication/44645020_Feeding_the_toddler_12_months_to_3_years--challenges_and_opportunities/links/53e2409e0cf2d79877aa22e5/Feeding-the-toddler-12-months-to-3-years--challenges-and-opportunities.pdf">fussiness</a> as it reduces opportunities for toddlers to try new foods. It’s also sweet, needs no chewing, and essentially displaces energy and nutrients that whole foods provide.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Toddler wearing bib with food smeared on face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582092/original/file-20240315-20-3y4x18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toddler milk is said to help fussy eating, but it may make things worse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-girl-toddler-picking-her-food-492304303">zlikovec/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-tell-if-your-kids-fussy-eating-phase-is-normal-92118">How to tell if your kid's 'fussy eating' phase is normal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Growing concern</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/28-04-2022-who-reveals-shocking-extent-of-exploitative-formula-milk-marketing">WHO</a>, along with public health academics, has been raising concerns about the marketing of toddler milk for years.</p>
<p>In Australia, moves to curb how toddler milk is promoted have gone nowhere. Toddler milk is in a category of foods that are <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2008B00660/asmade/text">allowed to be fortified</a> (to have vitamins and minerals added), with no marketing restrictions. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission also <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-to-reauthorise-agreement-to-not-advertise-infant-formula-seeks-submissions-on-toddler-milk-advertising">has concerns</a> about the rise of toddler milk marketing. Despite this, there is no change in how it’s regulated.</p>
<p>This is in contrast to <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/pregnancy-birth-and-baby/breastfeeding-infant-nutrition/marketing-infant-formula">voluntary marketing restrictions</a> in Australia for infant formula.</p>
<h2>What needs to happen?</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01933-X/fulltext">enough evidence</a> to show the marketing of commercial milk formula, including toddler milk, influences parents and undermines child health.</p>
<p>So governments need to act to protect parents from this marketing, and to put <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01933-X/fulltext">child health over profits</a>. </p>
<p>Public health authorities and advocates, including us, are calling for the restriction of marketing (not selling) of all formula products for infants and toddlers from birth through to age three years.</p>
<p>Ideally, this would be mandatory, government-enforced marketing restrictions as opposed to <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/topics/pregnancy-birth-and-baby/breastfeeding-infant-nutrition/marketing-infant-formula">industry self-regulation</a> in place currently for infant formulas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/essays-on-health-how-food-companies-can-sneak-bias-into-scientific-research-65873">Essays on health: how food companies can sneak bias into scientific research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We musn’t blame parents</h2>
<p>Toddlers are eating <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.13097">more processed foods</a> (including toddler milk) than ever because time-poor parents are seeking a convenient option to ensure their child is getting adequate nutrition.</p>
<p>Formula manufacturers have used this information, and created a demand for an unnecessary product. </p>
<p>Parents want to do the best for their toddlers, but they need to know the marketing behind toddler milks is misleading.</p>
<p>Toddler milk is an unnecessary, unhealthy, expensive product. Toddlers just need whole foods and breastmilk, and/or cow’s milk or a non-dairy, milk alternative.</p>
<p>If parents are worried about their <a href="https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/nutrition-fitness">child’s eating</a>, they should see a health-care professional.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Anthea Rhodes, a paediatrician from Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer McCann is a researcher with the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), a co-chair of the Infant and Toddler Foods Alliance, and a member of the Public Health Association of Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karleen Gribble is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia, the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative, the Australian Breastfeeding Association, the Infant and Toddler Food Research Alliance and the Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies Core Group. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Hull is a member of, and volunteers for, the Australian Breastfeeding Association and is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia. She is also an executive on the Infant and Toddler Food Research Alliance. Naomi is the National Coordinator for the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative Australia.</span></em></p>Toddler milk is high in sugar and can leave toddlers reluctant to try new foods. It’s also heavily marketed to time-poor parents. We’re worried.Jennifer McCann, Lecturer Nutrition Sciences, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin UniversityKarleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney UniversityNaomi Hull, PhD candidate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1998582023-02-22T21:49:51Z2023-02-22T21:49:51ZLoblaw’s PR response to consumer criticism shows it prioritizes profit over people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511806/original/file-20230222-25-swp0h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=960%2C16%2C4330%2C2985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In October, Loblaw announced a price freeze on one of its in-store brands through a letter from Loblaw Companies chair and president Galen Weston. The promotion ended on Jan. 31.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Loblaw Companies made headlines in October 2022 for <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9203853/no-name-loblaw-price-freeze-groceries-inflation/">freezing the prices on one of its in-store brands</a> in the face of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/canada-food-price-profits-1.6629854">record food inflation</a>. <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2023/02/01/loblaw-ends-price-freeze-on-its-no-name-products-as-grocery-industry-warns-more-hikes-are-coming.html">When the promotion finally ended on Jan. 31</a>, consumers responded negatively to the announcement.</p>
<p>In response to consumer criticism, Loblaw <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2023/02/07/loblaws-hits-twitter-as-social-media-storm-erupts-over-soaring-canadian-food-prices.html">took to social media to defend itself</a>. The result was an embarrassing communications display from one of Canada’s biggest companies.</p>
<p>The disastrous end presents a useful opportunity for Canadians to recognize how companies attempt to manage public perception of a brand through times of crisis and instability. </p>
<p>The communications failure should spur Canadians to pressure Loblaw — a company that <a href="https://theconversation.com/food-giants-reap-enormous-profits-during-times-of-crisis-184223">controls our access to food</a> and, increasingly, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/03/16/from-bakery-to-tech-behemoth-how-loblaw-became-a-titan-of-the-private-health-care-industry.html">health care</a> — to worry about the material effects of its actions, not just its words. </p>
<h2>A successful campaign launch</h2>
<p>The rollout of a marketing campaign like Loblaw’s involves anticipating how the competition, press and public will react. Public letters, Twitter threads, ads and in-store promotional materials are all strategic tools an organization uses to land the most advantageous media coverage possible. Plans are made for both launching and wrapping up the campaign.</p>
<p>In October, Loblaw announced its price freeze through a <a href="https://www.loblaw.ca/en/galen-announces-a-price-freeze-for-inflation">letter sent to its rewards program members</a> from chair and president Galen Weston. The letter argued that food price increases were out of control and Loblaw would freeze the price of its No Name brand items to help Canadians.</p>
<p>The Canadian media ran several stories that <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9203853/no-name-loblaw-price-freeze-groceries-inflation/">echoed the letter almost beat-for-beat</a>. This was a messaging success. News coverage stayed on Loblaw’s message, even as competitors pointed out that <a href="https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/loblaw-no-name-price-freeze-routine">seasonal price freezes were routine in the grocery industry</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a suit and tie wearing glasses speaking in front of a podium. Behind him is a massive screen that says 'Loblaw' on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510692/original/file-20230216-22-kwzkku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Galen Weston, chairman and president of Loblaw Companies Ltd., speaks during the company’s annual general meeting in Toronto in May 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nonetheless, thanks to a savvy management campaign — <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/loblaw-hits-the-brakes-on-food-inflation-by-freezing-prices-on-1-500-no-name-products-812258099.html">including in-store ads</a> — Loblaw managed to capture good press by advertising a common industry practice as a form of charity.</p>
<p>On Twitter, some contested Loblaw’s claim that rising prices were out of its control by pointing to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaw-profits-booming-sales-1.6653223">shockingly high quarterly earnings</a> the company had announced to its shareholders in November 2022. Its <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaw-revenue-q4-2022-1.6757480">most recent quarterly profits were also very high</a>, surpassing analysts’ expectations: $529 million, 10 per cent more than the same period last year.</p>
<p>This narrative echoes the public response to the company <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/why-did-grocery-store-execs-cut-pandemic-pay-mps-invite-them-to-explain-1.4990450">ending its Hero Pay benefits in 2020</a> despite record profits during quarantine.</p>
<h2>Playing the social media game</h2>
<p>The ending of such a marketing campaign is just as important as the launch. Loblaw’s <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9448685/loblaw-no-name-price-freeze-ending/">three-month-long prize freeze ended on the last day of January</a>, prompting backlash online from consumers.</p>
<p>Loblaw’s social media team took an unusual approach to handling this criticism: responding directly. </p>
<p>Communications strategies succeed when they are well-messaged and highly controlled. Tweets are not an inherently bad choice when it comes to handling criticism on social media; if a company’s responses are factual and well-crafted, interactions will likely stay confined to online platforms. But if responses contain outlandish claims, tweets can blow up and escape into broader public discourse.</p>
<p>Loblaw’s recent Twitter responses fall into this second category. In a particularly cringe-worthy series of replies, the company claimed it had become “<a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/02/01/loblaw-food-inflation-no-name/">the face of food inflation</a>” through no fault of its own. Echoing the October 2022 letter, Loblaw argued that the real culprit was cost increases along its supply chain. </p>
<p>In another tweet, the company suggested that it was too easy to blame grocers for high prices. It suggested that Loblaw’s grocery stores earned just a $4 profit on every $100 of groceries sold. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1620574787570438144"}"></div></p>
<p>Bad communications strategy assumes the reader is stupid. The tweet was particularly painful because it was easy to see through the argument: Loblaw owns much of its own supply chain.</p>
<p>The grocery store stocks its shelves with private label brands — Blue Menu, President’s Choice and of course No Name brand — that it owns and prioritizes in its marketing, merchandising and retailing placement. This is public knowledge among Canadians because Loblaw’s, No Name and the President’s Choice brands all share the same spokesperson: Galen Weston. </p>
<p>As food marketing analyst Richard Baker recently pointed out, <a href="https://www.fooddistributionguy.com/the-flight-of-the-private-label-category/">44 per cent of all branded goods sales at Loblaw’s</a> come from its own brands. This allows the company to cut a profit long before its products ever land in the aisles of its own retail stores. The $4 profit generated at the checkout counter represents only a fraction of the money such a large corporation makes.</p>
<h2>Laying the blame elsewhere</h2>
<p>The tweets were criticized by <a href="https://twitter.com/YoniFreedhoff/status/1620473307241021440?s=20">social media users</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/theJagmeetSingh/status/1620603393806069760?lang=en">politicians</a> and <a href="https://ca.style.yahoo.com/loblaw-no-name-prices-freeze-jagmeet-singh-173726509.html">the press</a> alike. They tell us much about how an organization like Loblaw weighs its actions against its public perception. </p>
<p>An image-first approach to communications runs the risk of producing a kind of myopia where a company’s leadership begins to assume that every problem it faces is the result of external perception, rather than its own actions. </p>
<p>In the long term, this kind of thinking clouds good judgement. It convinces leadership they can do no wrong, that every problem has a communications solution, and that it is Canadians themselves who do not understand. This becomes especially dangerous when the company’s own executive is also their spokesperson.</p>
<p>Nowhere is this myopia more on display than Weston’s <a href="https://www.thespec.com/opinion/editorials/2022/12/17/grocery-price-answers-dont-quite-add-up.html">refusal to appear before a parliamentary committee</a> to discuss food inflation in December 2022. Sending a chief financial officer to speak suggests the brand’s spokesperson is above the very people they claim to serve. </p>
<p>In February, the committee summoned grocery executives. On Feb. 17, the <em>Toronto Star</em> reported that <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2023/02/17/grocery-store-ceos-summoned-by-mps-to-face-food-inflation-questions.html">Weston has agreed to appear before the committee</a> to face questions about food prices if asked.</p>
<h2>Brands don’t exist in a vacuum</h2>
<p>In 1955, market researchers <a href="https://static.squarespace.com/static/52f06caee4b0c058f6084354/t/539070a1e4b0b4380bb48719/1401974945820/Levy_ProductandBrand.pdf">Burleigh Gardner and Sidney Levy argued</a> that brands “do not grow in a vacuum.” Rather, they are continually shaped by the actions of organizations <em>and</em> ordinary people’s perceptions, for better or for worse. </p>
<p>In the modern digital media landscape, brands have become more easily scrutinized; their meanings are harder to manage and contain.</p>
<p>Today, brands like Loblaw require constant surveillance and maintenance to ensure the right feelings and narratives stick. Individual slip-ups might happen, but as Gardner and Levy argued nearly 70 years ago, “they all make their contributions, for good or for bad.” </p>
<p>Dissonance emerges when a company’s actions can’t be squared away against its words. Weston’s brand as a spokesperson might be friendly and affable, but his organization’s pricing strategies are anything but.</p>
<p>Canadians should be especially concerned about the lack of accountability and honest communications at Loblaw. The company <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaw-to-buy-shoppers-drug-mart-for-12-4b-1.1342108">acquired Shoppers Drug Mart in 2013</a>, heavily <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/09/15/loblaw-investing-75-million-for-minority-stake-in-telemedicine-firm-maple.html">invested in the virtual care company Maple in 2020</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/loblaw-companies-buying-lifemark-health-group-for-845-million-in-cash-1.5818676">acquired Lifemark Health Group in 2022</a>. These moves signal to investors that offering medical services will be a key future growth area for the company.</p>
<p>Loblaw’s recent disastrous public communications make it plain that profits will be put ahead of people when it comes to health care as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Guadagnolo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Galen Weston’s brand as a spokesperson might be friendly and affable, but his organization’s pricing strategies are anything but.Dan Guadagnolo, Assistant Professor, Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934322022-12-07T21:39:48Z2022-12-07T21:39:48ZThe fur trade shows us that Canada has a long history of unethical business practices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499658/original/file-20221207-18-cn92lf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C17%2C2377%2C1530&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">‘Winter fishing on the ice of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers,’ by Peter Rindisbacher, 1821.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(National Archives of Canada)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With rising prices caused by inflation, Canadians are struggling to afford the basic costs of living. According to a recent Angus Reid Institute study, <a href="https://angusreid.org/canada-economy-inflation-rate-hike-debt/">nearly 60 per cent of Canadians are struggling to provide food</a> for their families. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/canada-food-price-profits-1.6629854">profits are surging for grocery retailers</a>, raising concerns about monopolies.</p>
<p>In today’s market economy, competition means standing out by offering customers more while working faster for less cost. Among top grocery retailers in Canada like Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro, it also means protecting and growing their dominant market position. The pandemic and other global crises has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/food-giants-reap-enormous-profits-during-times-of-crisis-184223">especially profitable for the food business sector</a>.</p>
<p>There is nothing new or surprising about the lengths corporations will go to maintain market dominance. Canada has a long history of big business antics, <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/a-legacy-of-exploitation">stretching as far back as pre-Confederation fur trade</a>.</p>
<h2>Building customer loyalty</h2>
<p>In 1670, Charles II <a href="https://www.hbcheritage.ca/things/artifacts/the-royal-charter">granted one company exclusive privileges</a> to exploit the area around Hudson Bay. For a century, bayside factories bustled with trade activity, where Hudson’s Bay Company men operated as a type of trader know as factors.</p>
<p>The fur trade was about more than exchanging goods — it was about building loyalty. Speeches and gift exchanges <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=4-gZSsrCr5QC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q=lengthy%20ceremony&f=false">stretched over multiple days</a>, practices that reflected the customs of the Indigenous societies participating in the commercial trade. These were <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=8_um3VW2zyMC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=Between+Indigenous+and+Settler+Governance&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=necessary%20to%20trading%20relationships&f=false">required if HBC factors wanted access to the goods</a> and for Indigenous traders to return the next season.</p>
<p>Such practices created shared obligations between the parties, although this did not stop factors from shorting Indigenous traders. By applying the “<a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=WHpucb-sXQUC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=indians+in+the+fur+trade&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=factor's%20standard&f=false">factor’s standard</a>,” company traders could demand more from Indigenous traders for less than was customary, or offer worse quality items in exchange for the usual quantity of furs. </p>
<p>It was risky — accusations of cheating left the company with more than dissatisfied consumers, it could cause productivity problems if the Indigenous party refused to return in the future. After all, in addition to gifts and consumer goods, the items Indigenous traders received were a type of compensation for their labours and fostered social relations.</p>
<h2>Collusion and control</h2>
<p>When trade shifted inland in the 1770s, the factor’s standard shifted too. The HBC was in direct competition with the Montreal-based North West Company, and each side <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y&id=4PsVAQAAMAAJ&dq=Merchant+Credit+and+Labour+Strategies+in+Historical+Perspective&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=patronize">tempted Indigenous traders away from their rival</a> by offering more in quantity or quality.</p>
<p>By the early 1800s, this became an expensive rivalry. Company men acted in ways that appeared contrary to their bottom lines, <a href="http://pam.minisisinc.com/DIGITALOBJECTS/Access/HBCA%20Microfilm/1M16/B22-A-1.pdf">driven by the desire to deny the other company profit</a>. </p>
<p>Yet amid what seemed like mutually assured destruction, the rivals conspired to <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=0AoqiZZZfYwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=blacklisting&f=false">blacklist workers who deserted them</a>, floated <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=cQluEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=legacy+of+exploitation&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=informal%20collusion&f=false">the idea of an informal collusion</a>, and <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=LNUUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=spencer%20sheriff%20assiniboia&f=false">secured legal protections and advantages from government officials</a> in Canada and Britain (<a href="https://archive.org/stream/cihm_18595/cihm_18595_djvu.txt">including the military</a>). Short term losses were nothing compared to long term gains in control.</p>
<p>Eventually, in an ultimate attempt to exercise control, the HBC established the Red River Colony (present-day Winnipeg) in 1812. Still <a href="https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c16/769">dependent on Indigenous Peoples’ labour and allyship</a>, this attempt to control Indigenous Peoples’ lands shows us how far the HBC would go to flex and protect their privileges.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The outside of a Loblaws grocery store" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C359%2C5685%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495496/original/file-20221115-13-eoau6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Big Canadian businesses, like Loblaws, take dramatic steps to maintain customer loyalty and maintain market dominance the same way pre-Confederation traders did.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Still building loyalty</h2>
<p>Even though today’s market economy has changed a lot since the heyday of chartered monopolies, there are some similarities when it comes to company tricks and concerns about loyalty.</p>
<p>Faced with shrinking portion sizes and frozen or increased prices, consumers today are frustrated by “<a href="https://theconversation.com/shrinkflation-when-less-is-not-more-at-the-grocery-store-97240">shrinkflation</a>.” Some retail experts label shrinkflation a “<a href="https://www.supermarketnews.com/consumer-trends/podcast-shrinkflation-and-how-it-s-affecting-loyalty">consumer perception</a>” problem, which becomes a <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-07-25-gartner-survey-finds-consumers-stop-buying-from-brands-that-compromise-products">loyalty problem when consumers feel cheated</a>. Described by economics journalist Abha Bhattarai as “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/01/package-sizes-shrink-inflation/">retail camouflage</a>,” tricks like this are not necessarily illegal, <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2022/08/29/consumer-sensitivity-to-shrinkflation/">but they can destroy consumer trust</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man in a suit speaking at a podium" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495495/original/file-20221115-25-yrjmqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=773&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Galen G. Weston speaking to shareholders at Loblaw’s annual general meeting in Toronto, in May 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In October, Loblaw Companies president Galen G. Weston responded to customer outcry against grocery prices. This involved <a href="https://www.loblaw.ca/en/galen-announces-a-price-freeze-for-inflation">circulating a personalized note</a> announcing a three-month price freeze on one of the company’s own brands.</p>
<p>With this note, Weston tried to appear as a compassionate voice for corporate decision-making. He volunteered to share the burdens by sacrificing profits, and seemed to recognize some sense of duty while still managing to stop short of a <em>mea culpa</em>.</p>
<h2>More collusion and control</h2>
<p>Instead of increasing customer loyalty, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/10/18/loblaws-price-freeze-nothing-but-a-publicity-stunt-critics-say.html">Weston’s public relations move backfired</a> — much like the short-lived “hero pay” for employees (<a href="https://financialpost.com/news/economy/how-hero-pay-scandal-prompted-ottawa-make-wage-fixing-illegal">now recognized as a collusive wage-fixing practice</a>). While these PR moves might have been well intentioned, they demonstrate a clear disconnect between grocery store chains and the needs of their customers.</p>
<p>Weston’s note suggested that companies like Loblaws can decide food costs at will, which undercuts claims that prices rose for reasons beyond their control, like <a href="https://www.loblaw.ca/en/galen-announces-a-price-freeze-for-inflation">rising supplier costs</a>. It also turns out that price freezes are not that special, although Loblaws framed it that way. In the industry, it is <a href="https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/loblaw-no-name-price-freeze-routine">routine for prices to remain relatively stable through the winter</a>.</p>
<p>These antics are the latest in Canada’s long history of monopolies using questionable practices to protect their dominant position in the market. When considered alongside pre-Confederation fur trade, we see that market dominance is about control, which is the cornerstone of settler colonialism itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Dianne Brophy received funding for her book from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Awards to Scholarly Publications Program. </span></em></p>A public relations move by Loblaw Companies is just the latest in a long line of big business antics stretching back to pre-Confederation fur trade in Canada.Susan Dianne Brophy, Associate Professor in Legal Studies, St. Jerome's University, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1842232022-06-13T20:36:17Z2022-06-13T20:36:17ZFood giants reap enormous profits during times of crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467817/original/file-20220608-21-88xxkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3986%2C2217&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Food and agribusiness billionaires reportedly raised their collective wealth by 42 per cent in the last two years.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent report by Oxfam International has found that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/may/23/food-and-energy-billionaires-453bn-richer-oxfam-davos-wealth-tax-soaring-prices">62 new “food billionaires” were created</a> during the pandemic. The report, released ahead of this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/profiting-pain">highlights the record profits made by industry titans</a>.</p>
<p>Food and agribusiness billionaires reportedly raised their collective wealth by 42 per cent in the past two years, all while global food prices soared by 33.6 per cent in 2021, and are expected to rise by another 23 per cent in 2022. </p>
<p>Cargill, the food company giant, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/apr/17/soaring-food-prices-push-more-cargill-family-members-on-to-world-richest-500-list">expected to report record profits this year</a>, surpassing even last year’s record-breaking US$5 billion. Indeed, three members of the Cargill family joined the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">Bloomberg Billionaires list</a> in mid-April.</p>
<p>Canadian food corporations are also posting strong growth. Loblaws <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/canadian-shoppers-shift-to-discount-stores-no-name-brand-amid-high-inflation-loblaw-1.5887911">reported that its first-quarter earnings</a> rose almost 40 per cent compared to last year.</p>
<h2>Sky-rocketing food inflation</h2>
<p>While inflation is caused by several factors, one of the more pernicious can be traced back to the extreme levels of corporate concentration along the food supply chain. </p>
<p>The pandemic initially <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/opinion/coronavirus-global-food-supply.html">exposed cracks</a> in our supposedly efficient industrialized food system through <a href="https://www.fao.org/datalab/website/web/covid19">supply chain breakdowns</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/nearly-90-big-us-meat-plants-had-covid-19-cases-pandemics-first-year-data-2022-01-14/">worker shortages</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00211-7">trade restrictions</a>. Now, we can add high food prices and growing inequality to the list.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fresh vegetables on a rack in a grocery store aisle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468086/original/file-20220609-8276-2wzhz7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Food prices in Canada continue to rise in the face of labour shortages, the rising cost of goods and supply chain disruptions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Food price inflation has grown much faster than general inflation for decades. Canada’s <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220316/dq220316a-eng.htm">general inflation rate is at its highest since 1991</a>, and the food inflation rate in the country <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-delicate-balance-between-grocery-store-profit-and-food-security-180013">has reached 7.4 per cent</a>.</p>
<p>According to this year’s <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Food%20Price%20Report%20-%20EN%202022.pdf">Canada Food Price report</a>, the average grocery bill increased by a whopping 70 per cent between 2000 and 2020, and median incomes have not kept pace. </p>
<p>In the midst of this, companies have experienced record profits. This indicates that they have the market power to insulate themselves from these shocks by <a href="https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/time-magazine-us-food-prices-are-up-are-the-food-corporations-to-blame-for-taking-advantage">passing the risk along to the consumer</a>.</p>
<h2>Concentrated food supply</h2>
<p>Canada is <a href="https://foodpolicyforcanada.info.yorku.ca/backgrounder/problems/corporate-concentration/">home to one of the most concentrated food systems in the world</a>: Cargill and JBS Foods slaughter 95 per cent of Canadian cattle, while Weston Bakeries and Canada Bread account for 80 per cent of the bread market. Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and Costco all hold roughly 80 per cent of grocery market sales.</p>
<p>Consumers are not the only ones suffering the consequences. Retailers have continued to raise food prices, while <a href="https://www.nfu.ca/grocery-prices-are-rising-and-farmers-share-declining-as-corporate-processors-and-retailers-take-more-and-more">farmer profits have remained stagnant or declined</a> for decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cargill logo visible on the outside of a factory building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467816/original/file-20220608-24-rj41b0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cargill foods is one of two companies responsible for the slaughter of 95 per cent of Canadian cattle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Mareen / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Corporate concentration is intimately linked to the industrialization of food systems. <a href="https://www.foodsystemprimer.org/food-production/industrialization-of-agriculture/">Agricultural industrialization favours mechanization and specialization</a>, both aimed at increasing efficiency. </p>
<p>Economies of scale — gains that are realized as a result of increased scale — and government policies aimed at increasing production have resulted in a <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=43824">drastic decline in the number of farms</a> in Canada and the U.S. between the mid-20th century and today. </p>
<p>This shift has led to a concentration in business competition and along supply chains, facilitated by lax government oversight. Companies were also motivated to merge with and acquire others as a strategy to deliver shareholder value.</p>
<h2>‘Greedflation’</h2>
<p>While many recognize the negative results of our industrialized food systems – high greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and the promotion of highly processed foods, to name a few – they are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/industrial-agriculture">often positioned as providing plentiful, affordable food</a> for growing populations.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/jul/14/food-monopoly-meals-profits-data-investigation">recent flurry</a> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-its-not-just-inflation-food-prices-are-rising-because-too-few-players/">of articles</a> showing that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001242">Big Food</a> might be contributing to food price hikes questions the validity of this claim.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/business/economy/price-gouging-inflation.html">recent <em>New York Times</em> article</a> on “greedflation” explores the connection between corporate concentration more generally and higher prices. Greedflation occurs when large corporations jack up their prices during times of extreme strife — like during a worldwide pandemic.</p>
<p>The article notes that, although corporate concentration has existed for decades without corresponding inflation, the unique set of circumstances borne out of the pandemic has changed things.</p>
<p>Supply shortages, combined with increased worker bargaining power, have driven corporations to switch from squeezing suppliers to squeezing consumers. Both approaches demonstrate the perils of concentrated corporate power. </p>
<h2>More diverse food production</h2>
<p>Higher food prices, partly as a result of corporate concentration, have furthered the case for supporting more diverse, local food production, processing and markets. With any luck, this mounting evidence will translate to investments in alternative food systems. </p>
<p>During the pandemic, these <a href="https://croataninstitute.org/2020/08/01/regenerative-agriculture-and-covid-19-capital-needs/">alternative food systems demonstrated their ability</a> to adapt to crisis in a way that the longer, more distant and concentrated supply chains of industrialized markets could not. </p>
<p>Community-supported agriculture programs, food hubs and online direct distribution platforms between farmers and consumers <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1325">remained nimble during unpredictable times</a>. </p>
<p>If market concentration facilitates the ability for companies to raise prices for their benefit, it logically follows that smaller-scale, decentralized markets are simply not structured to not enable such tactics. In other words, these smaller markets won’t be able to profit off of crisis the way the industrialized markets have been.</p>
<p>To prevent large corporations from exploiting crises like the pandemic, Ukraine war and climate change for their own benefit, we need our governments to invest in smaller-scale alternatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phoebe Stephens receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is a former employee of Oxfam International. </span></em></p>High food prices are exposing yet another risk of our hyper-concentrated global food system and strengthening the case for more diversified and decentralized alternatives.Phoebe Stephens, Postdoctoral Fellow, Global Development Studies, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1829902022-05-17T13:17:15Z2022-05-17T13:17:15ZHow filling the UK’s unused land with fruit and veg could help make us and our environment healthier - and help fight inequality<p>Communities should have a right to improve the unloved public spaces around them by growing fruit and vegetables, according to a new campaign that’s calling for a “<a href="https://jnews.uk/community-groups-call-for-right-to-grow-food-in-uks-unloved-public-spaces-gardens/">right to grow</a>” law in the UK. </p>
<p>This law, akin to the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/37/contents">Countryside & Rights of Way Act</a> that first gave the public the right to roam across parts of Britain’s countryside in 2000, aims to get local councils and landowners – such as the NHS and water companies – to open up parts of land in towns and cities for cultivation by local citizens.</p>
<p>Initiatives like <a href="https://www.incredibleedible.org.uk/">Incredible Edible</a>, who are leading the campaign, have been successfully taking over public spaces with food growing projects for over a decade now. We set out to understand how opening up these spaces to anyone who wants to grow food could contribute to improving environmental, physical and mental health across the country. </p>
<p>The security of our national food supplies in the UK is a question of growing importance. The pandemic and Brexit have given us a taste of what <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-challenges-for-supply-chains-in-2022-174420">food shortages</a> can be like: and with the invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of fuel and fertilisers rising, more turbulent times seem inevitable. Since 84% of fruit and 46% of vegetables eaten in the UK are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/united-kingdom-food-security-report-2021/united-kingdom-food-security-report-2021-theme-2-uk-food-supply-sources">imported</a>, these vital food groups are particularly vulnerable to supply crises.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Plants in a planter, with a sign reading 'The revolution will be fertilised!'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463616/original/file-20220517-23-l6480h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Incredible Edible launched in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/44221003151">Dunk/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4730">research</a> suggests that if all the green space across England, Scotland and Wales was used to grow food, it could provide around 40% of the fruit and veg currently produced in and imported into the UK. Publicly owned land makes up just under half of total green space, so even if just a small fraction of public spaces was used, it could make a huge difference to the availability of healthy food. </p>
<p>While this kind of urban agriculture is unlikely to ever <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-farms-wont-feed-our-cities-but-theyre-still-a-great-idea-heres-why-66107">replace</a> conventional farming, it could play a big role in boosting food supply resilience and perhaps help ease some of the UK’s growing <a href="https://foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/food-insecurity-tracking">food insecurity</a>. </p>
<h2>Harvesting health</h2>
<p>People get more than just fresh fruit and vegetables when going outside to grow: there’s now heaps of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321002093">evidence</a> for the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time in nature. Our <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33746058/">research</a> suggests that engaging in food growing might not only bring some of these benefits, but also lead to making <a href="https://theconversation.com/home-cooking-means-healthier-eating-theres-an-opportunity-to-change-food-habits-for-good-136881">healthier</a> and more sustainable food choices. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-farming-four-reasons-it-should-flourish-post-pandemic-144133">Urban growers</a> in our surveys were more likely to have a higher quality diet when compared to non-growers. Our work suggested that this might be because growers care more about the food they eat, where it comes from and where it was grown.</p>
<h2>Enhancing ecosystems</h2>
<p>Nowadays, our food tends to come with an environmental cost. The agriculture and food sector plays a huge role in climate change, accounting for <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cb7514en/cb7514en.pdf">around a third</a> of greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture also has many other detrimental environmental effects, including being the primary contributor to <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/food-system-impacts-biodiversity-loss">biodiversity loss</a> and a major driver of <a href="https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/publications/agricultures-impacts-water-quality.pdf">water quality problems</a>. </p>
<p>The jury is still out when it comes to whether urban growing has a lighter environmental footprint than conventional growing, with a <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1a39">recent study</a> suggesting we need better data to decide. But as well as producing healthier, more local food, urban growing also changes the environment of the city itself. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041622000018">recent review</a> of the evidence to date suggests that urban food growing spaces like farms and allotments can deliver as diverse a range of <a href="https://www.nature.scot/scotlands-biodiversity/scottish-biodiversity-strategy-and-cop15/ecosystem-approach/ecosystem-services-natures-benefits">ecosystem benefits</a> as other urban green spaces such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-green-space-worth-4703">parks</a> and <a href="https://www.eco-schoolsni.org/cgi-bin/generic?instanceID=23">school grounds</a>. They can help clean the air, regulate local climates, store more carbon, cut the risk of flooding and encourage biodiversity to flourish.</p>
<p>Growing food in towns and cities could be a great way to make the most of our land, and at the same time address the pressing challenges we face when it comes to <a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-income-inequalities-are-linked-to-unhealthy-diets-and-loneliness-105068">food, health</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-inequality-explains-the-high-impact-of-covid-19-in-the-uk-163704">social</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-known-for-over-a-century-that-our-environment-shapes-our-health-so-why-are-we-still-blaming-unhealthy-lifestyles-145597">environmental</a> inequalities. As acknowledged by the appointment of the House of Lords <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/media-centre/house-of-lords-media-notices/2022/march-2022/land-use-in-england-lords-launch-new-inquiry">Land Use in England Committee</a> earlier this year, deciding how to best use our land is a growing national priority. </p>
<p>We need land that supports better diets and helps lift people out of <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-how-the-pandemic-increased-food-poverty-in-the-uk-161620">food poverty</a>. We need land that fights climate change by reinforcing <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-carbon-sequestration">carbon sequestration</a> and encouraging biodiversity, while still providing affordable homes and thriving places to live and work. </p>
<p>All this means we cannot afford to overlook those little fragments of land in towns and cities that are currently lying forgotten and unused. A “right to grow” law could be one way to bring these to life, while empowering people who love where they live to help improve it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182990/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jess Davies receives funding from UKRI and the European Commission.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Hardman receives funding from UKRI (BBSRC, ESRC, NERC), the European Commission, and the American Beverage Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sofia Kourmpetli receives funding from BBSRC and InnovateUK.</span></em></p>A ‘right to grow’ law encouraging more locally-grown food could boost health, community pride and food supply resilience.Jess Davies, Chair Professor in Sustainability, Lancaster UniversityCharlotte Hardman, Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Appetite and Obesity, University of LiverpoolSofia Kourmpetli, Senior Lecturer in Plant Sciences, Cranfield UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1405372020-09-14T03:35:49Z2020-09-14T03:35:49ZThe rise of ultra-processed foods and why they’re really bad for our health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355927/original/file-20200902-22-88o5o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C7326%2C4912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans (and our ancestors) have been processing food for at least <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/processed-food-a-two-million-year-history/">1.8 million years</a>. Roasting, drying, grinding and other techniques made food more nutritious, durable and tasty. This helped our ancestors to colonise diverse habitats, and then develop settlements and civilisations.</p>
<p>Many traditional foods used in cooking today are processed in some way, such as grains, cheeses, dried fish and fermented vegetables. Processing itself is not the problem.</p>
<p>Only much more recently has a different type of food processing emerged: one that is more extensive, and uses new chemical and physical techniques. This is called ultra-processing, and the resulting products <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca5644en/ca5644en.pdf">ultra-processed foods</a>.</p>
<p>To make these foods, cheap ingredients such as starches, vegetable oils and sugars, are combined with cosmetic additives like colours, flavours and emulsifiers. Think sugary drinks, confectionery, mass-produced breads, snack foods, sweetened dairy products and frozen desserts.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, these foods are terrible for our health. And we’re eating more of them than ever before, partially because of aggressive marketing and lobbying by “Big Food”. </p>
<h2>Ultra-processed foods are harming our health</h2>
<p>So concludes our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/7/1955">recent literature review</a>. We found that more ultra-processed foods in the diet associates with higher risks of obesity, heart disease and stroke, type-2 diabetes, cancer, frailty, depression and death.</p>
<p>These harms can be caused by the foods’ poor nutritional profile, as many are high in added sugars, salt and trans-fats. Also, if you tend to eat more ultra-processed foods, it means you probably eat fewer fresh and less-processed foods.</p>
<p>Industrial processing itself can also be harmful. For example, certain food additives <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872783/">can disrupt our gut bacteria</a> and trigger inflammation, while plasticisers in packaging can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019317416?via%3Dihub">interfere with our hormonal system</a>.</p>
<p>Certain features of ultra-processed foods also promote over-consumption. Product flavours, aromas and mouthfeel are designed to make these foods ultra-tasty, and perhaps even <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30439381/">addictive</a>.</p>
<p>Ultra-processed foods also harm the environment. For example, food packaging generates much of the plastic waste that enters marine ecosystems.</p>
<h2>And yet, we’re eating more and more of them</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343478299_Ultra-processed_foods_and_the_nutrition_transition_Global_regional_and_national_trends_food_systems_transformations_and_political_economy_drivers">our latest study</a>, published in August, we found ultra-processed food sales are booming nearly everywhere in the world.</p>
<p>Sales are highest in rich countries like Australia, the United States and Canada. They are rising rapidly in middle-income countries like China, South Africa and Brazil, which are highly populated. The scale of dietary change and harms to health are therefore likely immense. </p>
<h2>‘Big Food’ is driving consumption</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343478299_Ultra-processed_foods_and_the_nutrition_transition_Global_regional_and_national_trends_food_systems_transformations_and_political_economy_drivers">also asked</a>: what explains the global rise in ultra-processed food sales? Growing incomes, more people living in cities, and working families seeking convenience are a few factors that contribute. </p>
<p>However, it’s also clear “Big Food” corporations are driving ultra-processed food consumption globally — think Coca-Cola, Nestlé and McDonald’s. Sales growth <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001235">is lower</a> in countries where such corporations have a limited presence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A huge coca cola advertising billboard" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355953/original/file-20200902-18-192jul7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aggressive marketing campaigns by Big Food companies are contributing to growing consumption of ultra-processed foods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Globalisation has allowed these corporations to make huge investments in their overseas operations. The <a href="https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_1b69e1e69528e5630a2842ce673df6eb/cocacolacompany/db/734/7242/annual_report/coca-cola-business-and-sustainability-report-2019+%281%29.pdf">Coca-Cola System</a>, for example, now includes 900 bottling plants worldwide, distributing 2 billion servings every day. </p>
<p>As Big Food globalises, their advertising and promotion becomes widespread. New digital technologies, such as gaming, are used to target children. By collecting <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09581596.2017.1392483">large amounts of personal data online</a>, companies can even target their advertising at us as individuals.</p>
<p>Supermarkets are now spreading throughout the developing world, provisioning ultra-processed foods at scale, and at low prices. Where supermarkets don’t exist, other distribution strategies are used. For example, Nestlé uses its “door-to-door” salesforce to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/16/health/brazil-obesity-nestle.html">reach thousands</a> of poor households in Brazil’s urban slums.</p>
<p>Rising consumption also reflects <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343478299_Ultra-processed_foods_and_the_nutrition_transition_Global_regional_and_national_trends_food_systems_transformations_and_political_economy_drivers">Big Food’s political power</a> to undermine public health policies. This includes lobbying policymakers, making political donations, funding favourable research, and partnerships with community organisations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sweet-power-the-politics-of-sugar-sugary-drinks-and-poor-nutrition-in-australia-95873">Sweet power: the politics of sugar, sugary drinks and poor nutrition in Australia</a>
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<h2>Here’s how things can change</h2>
<p>The evidence that ultra-processed foods are harming our health and the planet is clear. We must now consider using a variety of strategies to decrease consumption. This includes adopting new laws and regulations, for example by using taxation, marketing restrictions and removing these products from schools.</p>
<p>We cannot rely on industry-preferred responses such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14747731.2016.1239806">product reformulation</a> alone. After all, reformulated ultra-processed foods are usually still ultra-processed. </p>
<p>Further, simply telling individuals to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/fat-nation-the-rise-and-fall-of-obesity-on-the-political-agenda-72875">be more responsible</a>” is unlikely to work, when Big Food spends billions every year marketing unhealthy products to undermine that responsibility.</p>
<p>Should dietary guidelines now strongly advise people to avoid ultra-processed foods? Brazil and other Latin American countries <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca5644en/ca5644en.pdf">are already doing this</a>.</p>
<p>And for us as individuals the advice is simple — avoid ultra-processed foods altogether.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Baker currently receives or has received funding from the World Health Organization, Food and Agricultural Organization, World Bank, UNICEF and the Australian Research Council. He is a member of the Independent Expert Group of the Global Nutrition Report. The findings of the research reported in this article, and the views expressed, are his alone and not necessarily those of the above organisations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Lawrence receives funding from the World Health Organization and the Australian Research Council. He is a member of the: Board for Food Standards Australia New Zealand; International Union of Nutritional Science Taskforce for Sustainable diets; and NHMRC's Synthesis and Translation of Research Evidence committee. The views he expresses in this article are his alone and not necessarily those of the organisations from who he receives funding or with which he is affiliated. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Priscila Machado receives or has received funding from the Australian Research Council and Sao Paulo Research Foundation. The findings of the research reported in this article, and the views expressed, are hers alone and not necessarily those of the above organisations.</span></em></p>We looked at 37 studies which show eating ultra-processed foods is bad for our health. So why are we eating more of them than ever before?Phillip Baker, Research Fellow, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Deakin UniversityMark Lawrence, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin UniversityPriscila Machado, Research Fellow, School of Exercise & Nutrition Science, Faculty of Health, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1037732018-10-25T04:32:26Z2018-10-25T04:32:26ZWorking to reclaim and rebuild our food systems from the ground up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241747/original/file-20181022-105764-1o3h1om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Through grassroots movements like La Via Campesina, farmers around the world are working to reassert the rights of local food producers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wdm/9246344183">Global Justice Now/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of the ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/democracy-futures">Democracy Futures</a> series, a <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/democracy-futures/">joint global initiative</a> between the <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/">Sydney Democracy Network</a> and The Conversation. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>One might be tempted to ask “what’s cooking?” as a slew of leading thinkers on food systems change converge on Australia.</p>
<p>Among those giving workshops, talks and town halls in cities throughout Australia this month are: <a href="https://foodfirst.org/team/eric-holt-gimenez/">Eric Holt-Giménez</a>, executive director of the <a href="https://foodfirst.org/">Food First</a> think-tank in Oakland, California, and author of <a href="https://monthlyreview.org/product/a_foodies_guide_to_capitalism/">A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism</a>; <a href="https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/persons/michael-jahi-chappell">Jahi Chappell</a>, author of <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520293090/beginning-to-end-hunger">Beginning to End Hunger: Food and the Environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Beyond</a>; Jonathan Latham, author of <a href="https://www.poisonpapers.org/">The Poison Papers</a>; Carey Gillam, author of <a href="https://islandpress.org/book/whitewash">Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science</a>; and food systems researchers <a href="https://foodsystems.lakeheadu.ca/charles-z-levkoe/">Charles Levkoe</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jose_Vivero_Pol">Jose L. Vivero Pol</a>. Devita Davison, co-founder of <a href="https://foodlabdetroit.com/who-we-are">FoodLab Detroit</a>, travelled here in 2017 to share how food entrepreneurs are breathing life back into her post-industrial city. </p>
<p>Brought to our shores by local advocates of food systems change, these thought leaders are sharing their knowledge and experiences of how we might reclaim a food system that has effectively been corporatised, to the great detriment of our health, our planet and our democracy.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular critique, our food system is not broken. As Holt-Giménez explains so eloquently in his book, it works perfectly well for Big Food. Multinational food, beverage, agri-business and retail corporations control global supply chains. But they don’t feed the world.</p>
<p>The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) <a href="http://www.fao.org/zhc/detail-events/en/c/270855/">reports</a> that family farms produce 80% of the world’s food in 2014. It’s mostly produced by women and girls who, ironically, are the most likely to be food-insecure.</p>
<p>Why? Largely due to poverty, made worse by flawed government policies and global mega-corporations that wield the power to destroy local food economies, ruin human health and annihilate biodiversity.</p>
<p>Four companies: <a href="https://qz.com/1297749/the-end-of-the-monsanto-brand-bayer-pharmaceuticals-is-dropping-the-name-monsanto/">Bayer-Monsanto</a>, <a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/working-at-a-multinational_inside-syngenta--behind-the-complicated-image/44421906">ChemChina-Syngenta</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DowDuPont">DowDuPont</a> and <a href="https://www.basf.com/en.html">BASF</a> now <a href="https://www.gmwatch.org/en/component/content/article/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-seed-companies-who-owns-nature">control over 50% of the world’s commercial seeds</a>. These highly profitable businesses are enabled by a regulatory system that effectively <a href="https://afsa.org.au/blog/2018/10/02/the-fight-for-farmers-rights-to-seed/">criminalises the saving, exchange and sale of seeds by local farmers</a>. </p>
<p>In terms of health, nearly one in three people globally suffer from at least one form of malnutrition in the form of wasting, stunting, vitamin deficiency, diabetes or obesity in what has become known as the “<a href="https://www.who.int/nutrition/double-burden-malnutrition/en/">double burden</a>” of malnutrition.</p>
<p>How have we got here? As Holt-Giménez explains, the global capitalist economy that drives our food system has fostered overproduction of cheap, calorific food. In doing so it has transformed the relationship between capital and labour to create social exclusion, poverty and food insecurity.</p>
<p>In pockets of economic irrelevance in every country and city on Earth people are deprived of basic infrastructure and services, particularly if they are perceived to have no value in global flows of wealth and property.</p>
<h2>Hope of a turning point</h2>
<p>Holt-Giménez has hope, however, that we are reaching a critical juncture in capitalism, with the emergence of “food utopias” that prefigure radical, structural change.</p>
<p>At the October 17 event “<a href="https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas/2018/building-food-utopias-voice-power-and-agency.html">Building Food Utopias: Voice, Power and Agency</a>”, hosted by University of Sydney, he was joined by sustainable food systems advocate <a href="https://evaperroni.com/">Eva Perroni</a> and Joel Orchard, founder of <a href="http://www.futurefeeders.org/">Future Feeders</a>. It’s an organisation dedicated to creating peer-to-peer support networks for young farmers.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-07-07/whos-farming-australia-abs-agricultural-census-2015-16/8686750">average age of the Australian farmer is 56</a>, Orchard’s initiative is a vital step to ensure our future food security, particularly in conditions of high financial risk and land scarcity.</p>
<p>As a scientist working with farmers to improve the quality of milk, Orchard saw those same farmers pouring it down drains in a depressed market. His experience led him to become part of the counter-movement against industrial agriculture. </p>
<p>Now managing his own peri-urban plot in Mullumbimby, Orchard has co-founded the <a href="http://www.csanetworkausnz.org/">Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Network</a> Australia and New Zealand with Victorian grower Sally Ruljancich. It provides a platform for small-scale and agro-ecological farmers who need a strong voice in policymaking.</p>
<p>“Farming has historically been such an individual and isolating pursuit,” Orchard said. “It’s vital that we include the perspectives of farmers both at the policy and consumer education level.</p>
<p>"At the moment, many small-scale and agro-ecological farmers don’t have a say in the policies that make a difference to their working lives.”</p>
<p>The CSA Network joins a number of like-minded organisations including the <a href="https://afsa.org.au/">Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance</a> (AFSA). AFSA <a href="https://afsa.org.au/blog/2018/06/27/vicplanningreforms/">lobbied the Victorian government for planning system reforms</a> that now recognise small-scale pastured pig and poultry farms as low risk. This has effectively unshackled these farmers from their industrial counterparts in planning legislation.</p>
<p>At the <a href="https://afsa.org.au/blog/2018/09/30/food-sovereignty-convergence-in-canberra-14-16-october/">Food Sovereignty Convergence</a> in Canberra this month, AFSA <a href="https://afsa.org.au/blog/2018/10/18/declaration-from-the-2018-food-sovereignty-convergence/">amended its constitution</a> to be an explicitly farmer-led organisation, like its international allies <a href="https://viacampesina.org/en/">La Via Campesina</a> and the <a href="http://www.foodsovereignty.org/">International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty</a>.</p>
<p>“Putting the voice and decision-making power in the hands of small-scale agroecological farmers puts AFSA in alignment with the global food sovereignty movement – we’re here to radically transform the food system from the ground up,” said AFSA president and farmer Tammi Jonas.</p>
<h2>An underground insurgency</h2>
<p>These farmers are part of what Charles Massy, in his remarkable book <a href="https://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/book.aspx/1445/Call%20of%20the%20Reed%20Warbler">Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture, A New Earth</a>, calls an “underground insurgency”. They are regenerating the land and revisioning market exchange. They represent an emergent thinking that manifests itself not only in care for the Earth but in genuine concern for the health of rural and urban eaters.</p>
<p>These networks are essential in the counter-movement against input-intensive, conventional modes of agriculture and the crippling effects of market concentration – including the “Colesworth” duopoly in Australia – that put the price squeeze on farmers.</p>
<p>According to Holt-Giménez, strengthening these social networks and institutions that promote the interests of small-scale, agroecological farmers is essential in our privatised food system. “It’s in policymakers’ best interest to strengthen them so that truly transformative and effective public policy is achieved.”</p>
<p>Information-sharing with international advocates is key to the transformation we need, but solutions also lie closer to home.</p>
<p>Indigenous Australians developed sophisticated ecosystem management. By “getting out of the way of Mother Nature” – or combining ecological literacy with lack of ego, as Massy puts it – First Nations people survived for more than 40,000 years. </p>
<p>Their innovation is now internationally recognised through initiatives like the <a href="http://aboriginalcarbonfund.com.au/">Aboriginal Carbon Fund</a>, which is building a sustainable Aboriginal carbon industry through peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing.</p>
<p>The voices of these local thought leaders must be included in policymaking.</p>
<p>Novel approaches to community engagement are needed to bring us all together on food-related issues. These include communities of practice, food policy councils, social enterprises and <a href="https://foodfirst.org/publication/food-policy-councils-lessons-learned/">solidarity economies</a>.</p>
<p>Many of these fledgling “utopias” are already incubating in rural towns and urban neighbourhoods.</p>
<p>One thing is clear. Separated more by time and capacity than ideological approach, groups and communities working for a better food system are mobilising across Australia. Our food system is ripe for repairing, reclaiming and revisioning.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author acknowledges and thanks: food activist and researcher <a href="https://evaperroni.com/">Eva Perroni</a>, organiser of Holt-Giménez’s visit to Australia; <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/environment-institute/">Sydney Environment Institute</a>, <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/sydney-policy-lab/">Sydney Policy Lab</a> and <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/sydney-ideas.html">Sydney Ideas</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alana Mann is a member of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) for the Linkage Project FoodLab Sydney. </span></em></p>If the food movement’s goal is to reclaim a corporatised food system by ‘rebuilding the public sphere from the ground up’, what does this look like?Alana Mann, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communications, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/905312018-02-15T23:38:21Z2018-02-15T23:38:21ZJust how bad is all that sugar for your heart?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206434/original/file-20180214-174969-8n8h3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Governments in countries such as Mexico and the United Kingdom have responded to the over-consumption of refined sugar with a "sugar tax;" Canada lags behind.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Neven Krcmarek)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Still nibbling Valentine’s Day goodies? Munching packaged cereals, pancakes or muffins for breakfast? Enjoying a lunch of processed meats and bread, sweetened pasta sauce, or even a salad drenched in dressing? </p>
<p>Sugar makes all of these foods delicious. It is also an important energy source for our bodies. It’s what we use when we’re doing vigorous activities and it’s the primary source of fuel for our brain. We need it. </p>
<p>The problem is, many of us eat far too much sugar. And we eat it in its simplest, processed form. </p>
<p>This excess of sugar in our diets increases the risks of health conditions such as obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, atherosclerosis, high blood cholesterol and hypertension. </p>
<p>It also significantly <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1819573">increases the risks of premature death from heart disease</a>. </p>
<h2>How our body digests sugar</h2>
<p>Our bodies are designed to digest sugar in its naturally occurring form found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. In these foods simple sugar molecules are joined together in a chain. </p>
<p>Our small intestine cannot absorb sugar in the form of a carbohydrate chain (commonly known as starch), so these foods are slowly broken down, with one sugar molecule cleaved off at a time before it can be absorbed. This is like taking a long train and removing one box car at a time.</p>
<p>When we eat sugar in its simplest form, such as sucrose (a combination of a glucose and fructose molecule), there is no chain to break down. So instead, a flood of sugar is released into the bloodstream all at once. We often feel this as an energy rush. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206428/original/file-20180214-174986-55hlmt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Jakob Suckale & Michele Solimena)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Insulin is then released to shuttle the glucose into our muscles, liver and other organs to be stored for later energy use. This can leave us feeling lethargic and hungry after the spike in glucose in our blood, leading us to eat more calories than we need to, which in turn <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2862460/">may increase our risk for obesity</a>.</p>
<h2>Insulin resistance to heart disease</h2>
<p>There are many other ways in which a high sugar diet adversely effects our health. </p>
<p>As we have limited stores for glucose in our body, any extra gets converted to fat. Some of this fat circulates in our blood and interferes with the work of insulin leading to further increases in blood glucose levels. </p>
<p>If this continues over years, insulin begins to lose its effectiveness and blood glucose starts to rise, resulting in what’s called insulin resistance and later to diabetes, another risk factor for heart disease.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206435/original/file-20180214-174969-1nxlxx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sugar from fruits is broken down in our small intestine slowly, resulting in less of an insulin spike.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Clem Onojeghuo)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>As the <a href="http://circres.ahajournals.org/content/81/3/363.long">excess glucose circulates in the blood vessels, it begins to weaken the artery walls, making them leaky</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925443913002718">dysfunctional, which can lead to the formation of atherosclerosis</a>. </p>
<h2>The role of high fructose corn syrup</h2>
<p>Back in the 1960s and 1970s studies began to show that dietary fat was associated with increased heart disease. This led to the <a href="https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dietary-guidelines-1980">first Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 1980, which targeted fat in the diet</a>. </p>
<p>Almost immediately, there was a proliferation of low-fat items created by the food industry resulting in trends of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934396004561">decreased fat intake </a>and <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141104141731.htm">increased intake of added sugars in the U.S.</a> All the while, obesity increased. </p>
<p>In Canada <a href="http://cmajopen.ca/content/2/1/E18.full">the rates of adult obesity tripled</a> — from 6.1 per cent in 1985 to 18.3 per cent in 2011. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206436/original/file-20180214-174969-12ufkly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Nabil Boukala)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>At around the same time, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) began to be introduced into foods as a sweetener given that it was cheap due to U.S. agricultural subsidies of corn. Since then, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/79/4/537/4690128">consumption of high-fructose corn syrup has increased dramatically in the U.S.</a> <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/content/189/26/E881">and, to a lesser extent, also in Canada</a>.</p>
<p>By 2004, <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2011003/article/11540-eng.htm">Canadians consumed an average of 110 grams of sugar per day</a> — the equivalent of 26 teaspoons — accounting for approximately 21 per cent of daily caloric intake. </p>
<p>More than a third of that comes from processed foods, meaning that Canadians are eating more than 30 pounds of added sugar per year from foods with no nutritional value. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4135498/">In the United States, these added sugars comprise 14 per cent of daily caloric intake in adults and children over six</a>. Both amounts are well over the <a href="http://www.who.int/elena/titles/ssbs_adult_weight/en/">maximum of 10 per cent recommended by the World Health Organization</a>.</p>
<h2>Big Sugar, Big Soda</h2>
<p>There have been questions as to whether higher intakes of HFCS present a health concern beyond glucose. </p>
<p>Unlike glucose, fructose is metabolized by the liver, independent of insulin. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673878/">In a randomized trial, high intakes of HFCS were associated with increased deposition of visceral fat</a> (inner-abdominal fat that resides below the stomach muscle wall and sits around the abdominal organs) compared to glucose. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11730160">accumulation of visceral fat can lead to insulin resistance, increased blood cholesterol levels and hypertension</a> — all major risk factors for heart disease. However, this study used levels of fructose nearly twice that of the average person’s intake and may only be relevant to a small number of people with intakes that high.</p>
<p>In recent years, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879177/">concern about “Big Food” acting like the tobacco industry of the 1950s has emerged</a>. </p>
<p>The scientific merit of some of the original studies pointing to dietary fat has also come into question. Evidence is emerging that the sugar industry sponsored a research program in the 1960s and 1970s that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5099084/">successfully cast doubt about the hazards of sucrose while promoting fat as the dietary culprit in coronary heart disease</a>.</p>
<h2>A global move to tax sugar</h2>
<p>Given that the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/249681/total-consumption-of-sugar-worldwide/">consumption of processed sugars has increased in populations throughout the world</a>, it will be challenging to reverse this trend. However, a number of governments have begun to fight back. </p>
<p>The most common method used to date is the imposition of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) like soda pops and sport drinks. Mexico has already implemented such taxes to reduce consumption. <a href="https://theconversation.com/meal-deals-could-undo-the-benefits-of-the-sugar-tax-91136">The United Kingdom is introducing one</a> in April 2018. </p>
<p>While it’s still early days, there is indication that <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1231">intake of SSB has decreased in Mexico since implementation of the tax</a>. </p>
<p>While the U.S. has no national SSB tax, many cities have undertaken to implement one, such as Philadelphia and Berkeley. There is criticism though that people may just travel outside of that city to purchase the drinks at a lower, untaxed price. </p>
<p>At present, the evidence isn’t available to support this speculation and one study found that <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2660167?redirect=true">vendors in the Philadelphia airport who reside outside of the city boundaries also raised their prices of SSB in line with the tax</a>.</p>
<h2>Canada changes sugar labelling</h2>
<p>Canada lags behind. There has been much discussion of implementing a tax on SSB but no change appears on the horizon. </p>
<p>In recent years there has been <a href="http://stopmarketingtokids.ca/">a push to stop the marketing of foods with low nutritional value to kids</a>, much of these foods being high in added sugars. <a href="https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/en/consumer/topic/illegal-practice/advertising-children/">The province of Quebec has had its own law on advertising to children in place since 1980</a> and currently has <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129778/">one of the lowest rates of child obesity in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>In the past year, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-labelling-changes.html">Health Canada has been looking at different ways in which the nutritional labelling of processed foods</a> can be modified to more accurately inform consumers of the true amount of sugar. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=80&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=80&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=80&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=100&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=100&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206431/original/file-20180214-174969-mx4yot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=100&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada has no sugar tax but consumers will start to see these changes to the listing of sugar ingredients during 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Government of Canada)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One such proposal is to group all types of sugar together in the ingredients list. At present, ingredients are listed in order of quantity. To avoid sugar being listed first, the food industry uses different types of sugars in processed foods such as sugar, corn syrup, molasses and brown sugar. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-labelling-changes.html#a2">Under the new regulations, these sugars would be listed together as one ingredient</a>. </p>
<p>Given how pervasive sugar is in our food chain and our diets, no single action is likely to turn the tide back. </p>
<p>It will take regulation at different government levels, advocacy by not-for-profit organizations and increased awareness among consumers for measurable reductions in sugar to occur.</p>
<p><em>Scott Lear writes the weekly blog <a href="https://www.drscottlear.com">Feeling Healthy with Dr. Scott Lear_</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Lear receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Novo Nordisk, Hamilton Health Sciences and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.</span></em></p>Too much refined sugar in your diet is not just a risk factor for obesity and diabetes, it also increases your chances of heart disease.Scott Lear, Professor of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/728752017-05-25T20:27:11Z2017-05-25T20:27:11ZFat nation: the rise and fall of obesity on the political agenda<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169070/original/file-20170512-32593-1cfqyw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why have successive federal governments not regulated junk food marketing to control obesity? The reasons aren't as obvious as you might think.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/120162430?src=ScvoEvuMQwqJpWqFxMhVyQ-1-48&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we hear the word “obesity”, the words “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-20/four-things-australia-could-do-to-tackle-the-obesity-crisis/8285280">crisis</a>” or “<a>epidemic</a>” often follow. And as being overweight, obese and eating an unhealthy diet are <a href="http://ihmeuw.org/435v">leading contributors</a> to disease in Australia, evidence is mounting that “tackling obesity” <em>should</em> be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-were-losing-the-battle-of-the-bulge-the-politics-of-obesity-prevention-8304">political priority</a>. </p>
<p>But obesity is a tough political challenge. Some have referred to it as “<a href="http://www.who.int/sdhconference/resources/implementinghiapadel-sahealth-100622.pdf">a test case for 21st century health policy</a>” and as a “<a href="http://www.who.int/sdhconference/resources/implementinghiapadel-sahealth-100622.pdf">wicked problem</a>”. That’s partly because there are many interconnected <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-the-worldwide-obesity-epidemic-70153">drivers of obesity</a>, there is no “quick fix”, and because many stakeholders stand to win or lose from policy responses.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/fat-nation-why-so-many-australians-are-obese-and-how-to-fix-it-23783">Obesity</a> has <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312645434_Generating_political_priority_for_regulatory_interventions_targeting_obesity_prevention_An_Australian_case_study">risen and fallen</a> on Australia’s political agenda. But unlike tobacco control policies, which included both legislative and non-legislative interventions, the federal government has gone for a “light touch” approach, including the voluntary <a href="http://healthstarrating.gov.au/internet/healthstarrating/publishing.nsf/content/home">Health Star Rating</a> food labelling scheme, social marketing campaigns and school sports programs. </p>
<p>Many of these are important, even if flawed. But they are unlikely to resolve the problem without stronger regulatory controls on the marketing, labelling, content and <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/206/3/obesity-epidemic-and-sugar-sweetened-beverages-taxing-time">pricing</a> of energy-dense foods and beverages.</p>
<p>Yet political priority for such regulation has been low. Our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312645434_Generating_political_priority_for_regulatory_interventions_targeting_obesity_prevention_An_Australian_case_study">research</a> investigated why.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We studied the rise and fall of obesity prevention on the federal government’s agenda between 1990 and 2011. </p>
<p>First, we measured how often politicians used the word “obesity” in their parliamentary speeches. Next, we analysed media and policy documents, and interviewed 27 people, including those from government, civil society, academia and industry, to understand the barriers to prioritising a regulatory approach to managing obesity.</p>
<p>Although obesity rates rose steadily from the 1980s onwards, our results (below) show, relative to tobacco, obesity only received political attention from the early-2000s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167879/original/file-20170504-5995-14p3qqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Attention to obesity versus tobacco in federal parliament, 1990-2011.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There were two distinct periods of attention. In 2002, new evidence on the rise of childhood obesity <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1198217/">placed it on</a> the New South Wales government’s agenda. This in turn triggered other state governments to respond. Obesity then <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/Internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/Content/activities_2004.pdf/$File/activities_2004.pdf">caught the attention</a> of the Howard government in 2004, before falling away again.</p>
<p>More recently, the issue was raised in the Rudd government’s <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2008/189/10/australia-healthiest-country-2020?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D4c4633b9a0d26e4dd148278f93dea22d">preventative health policy agenda</a>. However, political priority for regulatory intervention failed to emerge.</p>
<p>So how can we explain this high level of political attention, but low political priority for regulatory interventions? We identified several key barriers.</p>
<h2>What are the political barriers?</h2>
<p>First, we found that powerful food and advertising industry groups have <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-food-lobbying-tip-of-the-iceberg-exposed-23232">strongly opposed regulation every step of the way</a>. Their power stemmed largely from their economic importance as industries and employers, <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-food-with-a-regional-flavour-how-australias-food-lobby-works-28213">their access to and influence with political decision-makers</a> and their adoption of pre-emptive self-regulatory codes (for instance on marketing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/states-should-stand-up-to-the-food-industry-on-traffic-light-labelling-4504">food labelling</a>). </p>
<p>Only one of the largest 20 food corporations (as ranked by turnover) signatory to obesity-related self-regulatory codes was a wholly-owned Australian company. Thus, these industry groups largely represented the interests and drew on the political power of international capital.</p>
<p>However, it wasn’t all just industry interference. We identified a lack of consensus within the public health community and a failure to “speak with one voice”. Nutrition, physical activity and other relevant standalone policy issues were encompassed into the singular obesity category, bringing together a wider diversity of experts. </p>
<p>But with diversity we discovered disagreement on how to move forward. This was seen to create a lot of extra work for those developing policy.</p>
<p>Similarly, we found public health groups were fragmented for several reasons, including disagreement on the food labelling issue. But most importantly, the receipt of industry funding by some public health groups was seen as a serious conflict of interest by others.</p>
<p>Together this fragmentation limited the influence of the public health community, because politicians are less likely to listen to those in disagreement.</p>
<h2>A contest of ideas</h2>
<p>Obesity has also been very much a contest of ideas, and how they are publicly framed.</p>
<p>For instance, we found the “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/315/7106/477.long">obesogenic environment</a>” frame in the late 1990s “politicised” the issue by locating responsibility with a wider set of drivers (for instance, unhealthy food environments) outside an individual’s control. In other words, this way of framing obesity helped to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879181/">convert it from a private issue into a political one</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169042/original/file-20170511-32624-1sh8afo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Talk about children eating junk food demonised the food industry for its role in childhood obesity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/573669532?src=ny5ccrc9fckmtWnyO1Xt-A-1-5&size=medium_jpg">from shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other powerful frames we discovered were a <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2F2009-06-18%2F0195%22">demon “junk food” industry preying on children</a>, and an economic frame where obesity imposes major costs on health systems and workforce productivity. </p>
<p>Countering these, industry groups and some parliamentarians deployed powerful “slippery slope” arguments portraying industry as vulnerable if regulations were to be adopted.</p>
<p>There were also individual and parental “<a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2004-06-16%2F0059%22;src1=sm1">responsibility</a>” frames intended to deflect blame away from the commercial drivers of obesity, such as the intensive marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages.</p>
<p>And there was the powerful idea of the “<a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F2004-06-16%2F0059%22;src1=sm1">nanny state</a>” that portrays regulation as big government imposing itself on citizen’s freedoms.</p>
<h2>Little appetite from within government</h2>
<p>We found regulatory interventions to tackle obesity also had little support from within government. Senior public servants had fostered an institutional culture emphasising individual responsibility and the view that regulatory interventions were dangerous territory.</p>
<p>The establishment of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency in 2011 provided an important new institutional platform for government action. However, it was opposed by both industry and powerful government interests, and was one of the agencies <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/commonwealth-agencies-to-be-cut-by-abbott-government/news-story/aeeccff78818216f9ab5b5a158aef618">abolished by the Abbott government</a> in 2014. </p>
<p>Finally, we found the complexity of the issue to be a problem. This allowed opponents of regulatory interventions to call them “magic cures” and “<a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;orderBy=customrank;page=0;query=cormann%20quebec%20obesity;rec=0;resCount=Default">silver bullets</a>”, essentially vilifying their suitability as interventions.</p>
<p>With politically contested policy issues, the standard of evidence required to achieve policy change is generally higher. We found this was certainly the case for obesity and an argument of “limited evidence” was consistently used to justify government inaction.</p>
<p>Our research did have some limitations. For example, we did not pick up on the government’s “deregulation agenda” as a barrier, although others <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23171416">found this to be important</a>.</p>
<h2>Where to now?</h2>
<p>Acknowledging these barriers to regulation and taking steps to overcome them will be important to any future efforts to prevent obesity.</p>
<p>First, achieving cohesion among public health experts and advocacy groups is paramount. This includes alignment on key policy positions. To what extent this has been achieved since our analysis (dating back to 2011) is unclear. </p>
<p>Second, both sides of politics should acknowledge the power of the transnational food industry to impede progress on Australia’s obesity prevention policies. The <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Healthy-Food-Partnership-Home">public-private governance approach</a> currently in use is conflicted and unlikely to resolve the problem.</p>
<p>Third, obesity will again receive high levels of political attention in the future. This will present a moment of opportunity for a prepared and cohesive public health community to move the agenda forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Baker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>No wonder obesity is a tough public health issue for governments to deal with. Our research has uncovered a range of barriers to tackling it, some more obvious than others.Phillip Baker, Alfred Deakin Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/321132014-09-26T06:13:59Z2014-09-26T06:13:59ZSalt overload – it’s time to get tough on the food industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60135/original/spf95hn7-1411702648.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reducing Australians' salt intake by 30% could save 7,000 lives a year.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-112846465/stock-photo-baked-pasta-ready-meal-with-spiral-pasta-chicken-bacon-and-cheese-family-size-pack.html?src=pp-photo-91857014-cBQ8OJxe-Eb6lAYfRZ48MA-3">Joe Gough/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While other nations have successfully reduced their sodium intake, Australians are still eating too much salt. And we’re paying the price with our health; a high-salt diet can lead to high blood pressure, one of the key contributors to heart disease. </p>
<p>Reducing Australians’ daily salt intake by 30% (from nine grams to six) <a href="http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/RapidReview_FoodReformulation.pdf">could save</a> around 7,000 lives a year, through lowered blood pressure and fewer heart attacks. </p>
<p>It’s time for the Commonwealth government to get tough on the food industry to reduce the salt content of processed foods. </p>
<p>So, what’s the best way to make this happen?</p>
<p>For countries where the majority of salt is already hidden in processed foods, the most effective way to achieve reductions in salt intake is for the food industry to gradually take salt out of processed foods. </p>
<p>But some controversy exists about whether this <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2014/200/2/systematic-interim-assessment-australian-government-s-food-and-health-dialogue">requires legislation</a> (and penalties for companies that don’t comply) or whether <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21546876">voluntary agreements</a> are enough to get the food industry to act. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/8/3274">recent review</a> showed that 59 countries already have food industry salt-reduction programs in place. Some of the countries reviewed are meeting with food companies and asking them to reduce salt in products where they can. But almost two-thirds (38) have established specific targets for reducing salt levels in different foods. </p>
<p>While the majority of these are based on voluntary agreements with the food industry, nine countries have introduced legislation on salt levels.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60154/original/849bpj29-1411709819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bread factory in Mongolia where salt was reduced by 12%.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacqui Webster.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The United Kingdom was the <a href="https://www.food.gov.uk/scotland/scotnut/salt/salttimeline">first country</a> to introduce targets for a range of foods, in March 2006, after a three-year period of research and public consultation. Seven years later, by 2013, the UK had successfully reduced the population’s salt intake by 15%. </p>
<p>Parallel <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4995">reductions in blood pressure</a> are estimated to be saving around 8,000 lives a year. </p>
<p>Other countries, including the United States and Canada, have since adopted similar voluntary measures. </p>
<p>But there is a <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/8/3274">growing trend</a> towards legislation, with mandatory maximum salt standards being established for bread in a number of countries, including Belgium, Greece, Hungary, The Netherlands, Portugal and Paraguay. </p>
<p>Bulgaria has extended the legislation from bread, to milk products and lutenica (a vegetable relish), and Argentina has legislated salt levels for a range of products, including bread and processed meats.</p>
<p>South Africa first started consulting on salt targets in 2011, and in just two years <a href="http://www.heartfoundation.co.za/sites/default/files/articles/South%20Africa%20salt%20legislation.pdf">passed legislation</a> for salt levels across the range of food products. </p>
<p>A number of factors influenced this decision. Salt reduction was gaining a higher profile internationally. Also very important was the local research that provided context-specific data on the feasibility of salt reduction on commonly consumed foods in the South African population supported the case for legislation. </p>
<p>It is too early to know whether South Africa will realise the full potential of these measures, but it has <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/9/3672">been estimated</a> they could save 7,000 lives a year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60137/original/jmskrhcs-1411702794.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Salt-reduction targets and legislation are saving lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-159566738/stock-photo-mother-foiling-a-sandwich-for-her-child-for-a-school-meal.html?src=cBQ8OJxe-Eb6lAYfRZ48MA-1-71">Photographee.eu/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in Australia, the results are mixed. The government has taken <em>some</em> action <a href="http://www.foodhealthdialogue.gov.au/internet/foodandhealth/publishing.nsf">to address</a> the population’s salt intake by establishing a dialogue with the food industry to reach agreements about limits for salt levels in some food products. And <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/9/3802">recent research</a> has shown that progress has been made been made across some food categories to reduce salt. </p>
<p>But a review of the <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2014/200/2/systematic-interim-assessment-australian-government-s-food-and-health-dialogue">Australian Food and Health Dialogue</a> (FHD) concluded it was inefficient and more focus was needed. The pace has also been slow: it took four years for the FHD to set targets for just 11 food categories (compared to three years for 80 voluntary targets in the UK, and two years for legislation on 14 targets in South Africa). </p>
<p>There is no doubt that food industry <a href="http://theconversation.com/seeing-stars-ministers-poised-to-approve-new-food-rating-system-but-industry-seeks-a-delay-15163">lobbying</a> contributed to the slow progress of the FHD to date and the stalling of decisions on its future. </p>
<p>The food lobby may have also played a role in the <a href="http://theconversation.com/seeing-stars-ministers-poised-to-approve-new-food-rating-system-but-industry-seeks-a-delay-15163">government’s backtracking</a> on its Health Start ratings website, which went live and was then taken down. The Star rating website will one day outline how much salt, fat and sugar products contain and this will also be displayed on front-of-pack labels. </p>
<p>It is now over a year since member states of the World Health Organization <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/94384/1/9789241506236_eng.pdf?ua=1">committed to targets</a> to reduce average salt intake by 30% by 2025, and Australia is lagging. </p>
<p>Because of the strength of the food industry lobby, a strong government role is crucial to the success of any efforts to reduce the population’s salt intake. </p>
<p>With the support of the new evidence to show that the targets are having an impact, the government must lead the FHD, expedite the target-setting process, and establish clear mechanisms for monitoring progress. And if the food industry doesn’t respond with adequate reductions in the next few years, then the government should legislate.</p>
<p>Only in this way can Australia fully realise the health benefits of salt reduction. </p>
<p><em>The author would like to thank Karen Charlton, Paul Kowal and Kathy Trieu for their contributions to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32113/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqui Webster receives funding from the NHMRC, The World Health Organization and The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation for work on salt reduction.</span></em></p>While other nations have successfully reduced their sodium intake, Australians are still eating too much salt. And we’re paying the price with our health; a high-salt diet can lead to high blood pressure…Jacqui Webster, Head of World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Population Salt Reduction, George Institute for Global HealthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/282132014-09-10T20:26:45Z2014-09-10T20:26:45ZBig Food with a regional flavour: how Australia’s food lobby works<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53164/original/m7ks4kf7-1404717425.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Big Food in Australia is not the same as the industry in the United States, where much of the popular media has come from. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecaddy/2224874595">Steven Caddy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Criticism of the food industry has itself become a niche industry. But the tendency to embrace a US-centric conception of how the industry works risks masking local variants and inhibiting a targeted response in other countries.</p>
<p>Since the 2001 book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Food_Nation">Fast Food Nation</a>, a spate of books, films and documentaries on the American food industry have helped to shape the popular idea of “<a href="http://www.ploscollections.org/bigfood">Big Food</a>”. </p>
<p>The food industry is depicted as a highly organised set of multinational food and beverage lobbyists peddling the global diet of sugary drinks and highly processed, energy-dense salty foods – akin to tobacco industry lobbyist Nick Naylor in the 2005 film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBELC_vxqhI">Thank You For Smoking</a>.</p>
<p>But although it is highly globalised, the food industry is far from homogeneous. Big Food in Australia is not the same as the industry in the United States, where much of the popular media has come from. </p>
<p>Still, that doesn’t mean Australian food and beverage lobbying is benign.</p>
<h2>A public health problem</h2>
<p>Responding to the threat posed by the food industry to public health locally requires a clear understanding of food industry tactics in the context of Australia’s political and lobbying culture. </p>
<p>The food manufacturing industry is Australia’s largest manufacturing sector, accounting for $111 billion and almost one in six jobs. Its peak body, the <a href="http://www.afgc.org.au/whoweare.html">Australian Food and Grocery Council</a> (AFGC), wields enormous power. </p>
<p>The AFGC aims to shape a <a href="http://www.afgc.org.au/whatwedo.html">regulatory environment</a> that increases the profitability of the food and beverage sector. Its approach generally involves securing a seat at the policy table and arguing food industry <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=HE10229">regulation is unnecessary</a> or flawed. </p>
<p>It uses three main tactics to do this.</p>
<p>First, it pre-empts government regulation by introducing its own voluntary schemes. </p>
<p>Consider the long-running dispute around the food industry’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/industry-winning-the-fight-against-better-food-labelling-22472">daily intake guide</a> nutrition labelling system. <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/662">Much criticised</a> by public health experts, it has now been included alongside the <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-three-year-saga-health-star-rating-labels-finally-ready-to-go-25794">health star rating system</a> favoured by health and consumer groups. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.afgc.org.au/media-releases/1306-industry-surpassing-advertising-to-children-self-regulatory-initiatives.html">Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative</a> is another attempt at <a href="https://theconversation.com/side-stepping-the-censors-the-failure-of-self-regulation-for-junk-food-advertising-2006">voluntary self-regulation</a>. The food industry introduced it in 2008, just as the federal government was considering tighter restrictions on food advertising to children. </p>
<p>While appearing to tick a regulatory box, public health researchers argue the initiative’s <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1753-6405.12134/abstract">many loopholes</a> prevent it from achieving its aims. Companies are able to choose their own nutrition criteria to identify “healthy choice” products, for instance, and the initiative doesn’t cover widely-used marketing techniques, such as product packaging and point-of-sale advertising.</p>
<p><a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11673-013-9441-z">Like many self-regulatory schemes</a>, it has no formal sanctions for non-compliance, and relies instead on peer pressure and companies’ fear of damage to their reputations.</p>
<p>Voluntary schemes such as this function both as a delaying tactic and a distraction: the rear-guard actions of companies that recognise the changing tone of public opinion and know government regulation can’t be far away.</p>
<p>Then, there are corporate social responsibility initiatives focusing on the exercise side of the energy imbalance equation that is leading to population-wide weight gain.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53166/original/cj2k7tyk-1404717838.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Although it is highly globalised, the food industry is far from homogeneous.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhk313/2242916963">Rami/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given a choice, the food industry would prefer us to move more, rather than consume less. Sponsoring <a href="http://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440%2813%2900151-5/fulltext">children’s sporting events</a> and facilities has been one highly visible way of encouraging this. </p>
<p>Public health physician and researcher, Nathan Grills <a href="http://www.intechopen.com/books/public-health-methodology-environmental-and-systems-issues/new-challenges-in-public-health-practice-the-ethics-of-industry-alliance-with-health-promoting-c">argues that McDonald’s</a> has “inserted itself into the health DNA of our schools and youth clubs” in a manner that blurs the lines between altruism and exploitative marketing.</p>
<p>Less overt strategies include campaigns that recruit celebrities to encourage people to make better choices while ignoring the fact that our food environment does the opposite. One good example of this tactic is the <a href="http://www.togethercounts.com.au/">Together Counts</a> campaign, which features swimmer Susie O’Neill encouraging families to take a pledge to “making changes towards a healthier lifestyle”. </p>
<p>By focusing on exercise and consumer choice, the <a href="http://www.vicpcp.org.au/sites/default/files/18.%20From%20Norm%20to%20Eric_Baum_2011_editorial%20ANZJPH_2.pdf">food industry reinforces</a> ideas that health is a matter for personal responsibility and self-regulation - not <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-place-for-industry-in-the-fight-against-lifestyle-diseases-12150">government regulation</a>. </p>
<p>The AFGC’s third tactic is to influence policy, from both inside and outside the tent.</p>
<p>As encapsulated by <a href="http://www.deloitteaccesseconomics.com.au/uploads/File/DAE-AFGC%20reform%20FINAL%20281013.pdf">this report</a> on “Reforming regulation of the Australian food and grocery sector” from October 2013, the AFGC’s vision of regulation is in direct conflict with that of public health advocates – especially when it comes to preventive health. </p>
<p>It seeks to realise its vision of lighter regulation through <a href="http://www.afgc.org.au/tools-guides-.html">submissions to government enquiries</a>, representation on government committees and working groups, and new industry-centric regulatory initiatives such as the <a href="http://www.foodhealthdialogue.gov.au/internet/foodandhealth/publishing.nsf/Content/about-us">Food and Health Dialogue</a>. </p>
<p>And it seems the efforts are paying off. Parts of its wishlist came closer to being granted in the recent federal budget. This included cutting funds to the National Preventive Health Agency and National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health. The AFGC believed these bodies <a href="http://www.afgc.org.au/media-releases/1938-budget-drives-practical-health-reforms.html">increased regulatory complexity and prescriptive policy interventions</a>. </p>
<h2>Deregulation is the new regulation</h2>
<p>These tactics don’t have quite the Big Food drama of lacing your hamburger with high-fructose corn syrup, covertly funding NGOs to act as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/business/rival-industries-sweet-talk-the-public.html?_r=1">front-groups</a> for the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/soft-lobbying-war-between-sugar-corn-syrup-shows-new-tactics-in-washington-influence/2014/02/12/8123da00-90dd-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html">sugar lobby</a> or working with the agriculture department to invent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07fat.html?pagewanted=all">stuffed-crust pizzas</a> as happens in the United States. </p>
<p>But it would be a mistake to confuse this lack of pyrotechnics with a lack of power. The AFGC’s tactics may seem vanilla, but they have a profound influence on the Australian food system and the way it’s regulated. </p>
<p>And don’t succumb to the temptation of reading corporate influence along party lines. Australian governments since the 1980s have been bipartisan in their faith that a thriving market economy can address most social ills. </p>
<p>The food industry’s preferences are in keeping with the broader trend for governments from both sides of politics to favour deregulation of business as a default. AFGC arguments about “easing the burden of regulation” fall on fertile ground, while calls to regulate industry influence or protect public health struggle to get a hearing. </p>
<p>These shifts are not only a problem for public health, but also for our political health.</p>
<p>Popular US representations of Big Food have been helpful in raising awareness of the influence of the food industry on diet, public health, and government action. </p>
<p>“Big Food” in Australia may not have the shock appeal of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0">Food Inc</a> or an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Omnivore%27s_Dilemma">Omnivore’s Dilemma</a>. But taking the time to understand Australian regulatory and policy trends, and the impact of local food industry lobbying on them, will ultimately have more relevance and critical purchase.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Kaldor receives funding from the Australian Government under an Australian Postgraduate Award, as well as from Sydney Law School and the Charles Perkins Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Mayes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Criticism of the food industry has itself become a niche industry. But the tendency to embrace a US-centric conception of how the industry works risks masking local variants and inhibiting a targeted response…Christopher Mayes, Post-Doctoral Fellow in Bioethics, University of SydneyJenny Kaldor, Doctoral researcher in public health law, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/288542014-07-08T20:15:21Z2014-07-08T20:15:21ZA World Cup of opportunities for junk food companies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53223/original/vnt6xq89-1404780546.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The food company sponsorship of the World Cup, including from soft drink giant Coca-Cola, is arguably a direct attack on efforts to improve child health in Latin America.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Saturday night, just hours before the latest quarter-finals of the World Cup, viewers watching SBS World News were exposed to over <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/296899139891/Brazilian-boys-fulfil-dream-of-seeing-World-Cup-match">two and a half minutes</a> of marketing for Coca-Cola. And that’s not even counting the ad breaks or the billboards shown during the highlights of the football.</p>
<p>As part of the news bulletin, SBS featured a segment about two Brazilian boys from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. These boys described their desire to go watch a live World Cup football game. While the two kids seemed sad to be missing out on the fervour of the football stadiums, the news reporter explained that Coca-Cola had generously offered two free tickets for these boys to “fulfil their dream” of going to watch a World Cup match. </p>
<p>As the reporter handed the excited boys their free tickets, Coca-Cola’s logo was highly visible.</p>
<p>While the news segment focused on the poverty of the favelas, and the contrasting excitement of the football stadium, there were several subtle reminders of the corporate sponsor throughout. One of the boys has a Coca-Cola can in his hands on his drive to the game. In the stadium, one of the boys wore a wristband with the Coca-Cola logo. </p>
<p>Finally, when the children emerged from the stadium, they had large-size soft drinks in their hands.</p>
<h2>Corporate philanthropy</h2>
<p>This sort of philanthropy from Coca-Cola falls under what companies like to refer to as <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/corporate-social-responsibility.html">corporate social responsibility</a>. And <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001241">Coca-Cola</a> is very good at it.</p>
<p>The “news story” appears to be designed by Coca-Cola’s marketers to have a double impact. It provides an opportunity for Coca-Cola to promote their brand to the kids and their families in the favelas. And it also helps promote Coca-Cola’s reputation as a good corporate citizen to Australians watching SBS, as well as investors that might read about it in Coca-Cola’s annual <a href="http://ccamatil.com/Sustainability/Pages/default.aspx">Corporate Social Responsibility</a> report.</p>
<p>However, multiple issues arise from this TV report. Firstly, the decision by SBS to include such overt corporate marketing as part of a news segment is somewhat concerning. Secondly, it exposes the wide variety of marketing practices used by the food industry. And finally, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the true “corporate social responsibility” of Coca-Cola.</p>
<h2>Unhealthy food marketing</h2>
<p>Unhealthy diets are the <a href="http://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/country_profiles/GBD/ihme_gbd_country_report_australia.pdf">biggest contributor</a> to disease and illness in Australia – even more than smoking. Specifically, consumption of soft drinks has been associated with <a href="http://www.rethinksugarydrink.org.au/facts">increased risks</a> of diabetes, obesity and other major health problems.</p>
<p>In Brazil, obesity is also a major <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24102701">problem</a>, and soft drink consumption is <a href="http://www.euromonitor.com/soft-drinks-in-brazil/report">rapidly rising</a>. While Coke may be fulfilling the dreams of the two boys in the report, the high consumption of soft drinks is contributing to future nightmares for the Brazilian health system.</p>
<p>Globally, Coca-Cola, along with many other multinational food companies, has <a href="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainabilityreport/me/responsible-marketing.html#section-our-guidelines-for-advertising-in-schools">recognised</a> the public health need to reduce the marketing of unhealthy food to children. </p>
<p>Coca-Cola and other companies have <a href="https://ifballiance.org/our-commitments/responsible-marketing-advertising-to-children/">pledged</a> to practise responsible marketing of their products. This includes promises that they will not directly target children younger than 12 in their marketing messages, or show children drinking any of their products outside the presence of a parent or caregiver. But it would appear as though targeting children in favelas with gifts and soft drinks does not fall under these restrictions. </p>
<p>This follows previous <a href="http://www.opc.org.au/downloads/positionpapers/exposing-the-charade.pdf">reports</a> in Australia that have demonstrated the failure of industry self-regulation to protect children from unhealthy food marketing.</p>
<h2>The ‘junk food World Cup’</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53224/original/drk26bsy-1404780780.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">McDonald’s is another key sponsor of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Coca-Cola’s donation of free tickets to the children in the favela, and the associated publicity from SBS, is only a tiny fraction of its marketing activity associated with the 2014 World Cup, in which it is a <a href="http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/partners/">“FIFA Partner”</a> sponsor. </p>
<p>Because of the high visibility and physical presence of unhealthy food at the World Cup, <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960987-9/fulltext?rss=yes">some</a> have described the food company sponsorship (including from Coca-Cola and McDonald’s) as a direct attack on efforts to improve child health in Latin America.</p>
<p>Major sponsorship of global sporting events by large food companies is not new. Some public health advocates dubbed the 2012 Olympics in London as <a href="http://www.sustainweb.org/publications/?id=237">“The Obesity Games”</a> in recognition of the huge amount of food industry sponsorship. </p>
<h2>Another page in the corporate playbook</h2>
<p>Coca-Cola’s donation of free tickets to the children in the favela is consistent with other practices used by food companies to boost their reputations. This includes setting up <a href="http://www.rmhc.org.au/">children’s charities</a>, or sponsoring <a href="https://www.healthyactivekids.com.au/">education programs</a>. It mirrors tactics used by the <a href="http://www.tobaccotactics.org/index.php/Main_Page">tobacco industry</a>.</p>
<p>Amid some <a href="http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/21448/news-media/get-the-facts/advocacy/food-marketing-to-children-2/">pressure</a> for governments to increase marketing restrictions, these practices, combined with <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001246">all the other efforts</a> of these companies to influence public policy in their favour, may ultimately serve to reduce the likelihood of new regulations.</p>
<p>While some – <a href="http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/2013/10/29/clowning-around-with-charity-how-mcdonalds-exploits-philanthropy-and-targets-children/">but not all</a> – aspects of these types of activities are praiseworthy, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that their primary objective is to boost company profits. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28854/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gary Sacks receives funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Mialon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On Saturday night, just hours before the latest quarter-finals of the World Cup, viewers watching SBS World News were exposed to over two and a half minutes of marketing for Coca-Cola. And that’s not even…Gary Sacks, Senior Research Fellow, WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin UniversityMelissa Mialon, PhD candidate, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.