What do we know and what should we know? An analysis of the corporate political activity of the food industry in three South American countries

• Grant number: 17/24744-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutritional Analysis of Population
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Baeza Scagliusi
• Grantee: Melissa Amina Madeleine Cavallo Mialon
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/14900-9 - Consumption of ultra-processed foods, dietary nutrient profile diet and obesity in seven countries, AP.TEM

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which include diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and cancers, are a leading cause of mortality globally. Unhealthy diets, particularly those high in ultra-processed food products, are one of the primary risks factors for NCDs, along with harmful drinking, smoking, and a lack of physical activity. Policies that would improve the healthiness of food environments have yet to be adopted in most countries, despites their likely effectiveness. One of the key barriers to this implementation is the influence, also known as corporate political activity (CPA), exerted by the food, alcohol and tobacco industries. The CPA of the food industry comprises six long term strategies adopted by the food industry to influence public policies and public opinion in ways favorable to the firms, most of which were also used by the tobacco industry: the information and messaging strategy; the financial incentive strategies; the constituency building strategy; the policy substitution strategy; the legal strategies; the opposition fragmentation and destabilization. The main aim of this post-doctoral project is to identify the CPA of the food industry in Brazil, Colombia and Chile, over a 2-years period. This research will consist in a step-by-step document analysis of publicly available information, triangulated with interviews with key informants inside and outside the food industry with a public health and nutrition expertise in Brazil, Colombia and Chile. This project will contribute to the FAPESP thematic project entitled "Consumption of ultra-processed foods, dietary nutrient profile diet and obesity in seven countries", being conducted by NUPENS, and which include Brazil, Chile and Colombia. This research will also contribute to, and be based on methods developed by, INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity/Non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support)(1), which aim is to monitor food environments. It will inform policy makers, public health advocates and the public about areas of possible improvement in policies and infrastructure support to improve the healthiness of food environments of the studied countries, and about practices that could undermine efforts to develop and implement these policies.

Scientific publications

(13)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MELISSA MIALON; GUSTAVO CEDIEL; PATRICIA CONSTANTE JAIME; FERNANDA BAEZA SCAGLIUSI. “Um processo consistente de gerenciamento dos stakeholders pode garantir a ‘licença social para operar’”: mapeando as estratégias políticas da indústria alimentícia no Brasil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, v. 37, 2022-02-18. (17/24744-0)

PAIXAO, MARIA MARGARIDA; MIALON, MELISSA. Help or Hindrance? The Alcohol Industry and Alcohol Control in Portugal. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH, v. 16, n. 22, NOV 2019. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; GOMES, FABIO DA SILVA. Public health and the ultra-processed food and drink products industry: corporate political activity of major transnationals in Latin America and the Caribbean. PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION, v. 22, n. 10, p. 1898-1908, JUL 2019. (17/24744-0)

TANRIKULU, HACER; NERI, DANIELA; ROBERTSON, AILEEN; MIALON, MELISSA. Corporate political activity of the baby food industry: the example of Nestle in the United States of America. INTERNATIONAL BREASTFEEDING JOURNAL, v. 15, n. 1, APR 8 2020. (16/25853-4, 17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; FABBRI, ALICE; FOOKS, GARY. Reply to the article: ``What principles should guide interactions between population health researchers and the food industry? Systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature{''}. Obesity Reviews, v. 20, n. 10, p. 1504-1506, OCT 2019. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; GAITAN CHARRY, DIEGO ALEJANDRO; CEDIEL, GUSTAVO; CROSBIE, ERIC; SCAGLIUSI, FERNANDA BAEZA; PEREZ TAMAYO, ELIANA MARIA. `I had never seen so many lobbyists': food industry political practices during the development of a new nutrition front-of-pack labelling system in Colombia. PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION, v. 24, n. 9, p. 2737-2745, JUN 2021. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; MIALON, JONATHAN; ANDRADE, GIOVANNA CALIXTO; JEAN-CLAUDE, MOUBARAC. `We must have a sufficient level of profitability': food industry submissions to the French parliamentary inquiry on industrial food. CRITICAL PUBLIC HEALTH, APR 2019. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; MIALON, JONATHAN. Analysis of corporate political activity strategies of the food industry: evidence from France. PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION, v. 21, n. 18, p. 3407-3421, DEC 2018. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; GAITAN CHARRY, DIEGO ALEJANDRO; CEDIEL, GUSTAVO; CROSBIE, ERIC; BAEZA SCAGLIUSI, FERNANDA; PEREZ TAMAYO, ELIANA MARIA. ``The architecture of the state was transformed in favour of the interests of companies{''}: corporate political activity of the food industry in Colombia. GLOBALIZATION AND HEALTH, v. 16, n. 1, OCT 12 2020. (17/24744-0)

LAUBER, KATHRIN; RALSTON, ROB; MIALON, MELISSA; CARRIEDO, ANGELA; GILMORE, ANNA B.. Non-communicable disease governance in the era of the sustainable development goals: a qualitative analysis of food industry framing in WHO consultations. GLOBALIZATION AND HEALTH, v. 16, n. 1, AUG 26 2020. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; VANDEVIJVERE, STEFANIE; CARRIEDO-LUTZENKIRCHEN, ANGELA; BERO, LISA; GOMES, FABIO; PETTICREW, MARK; MCKEE, MARTIN; STUCKLER, DAVID; SACKS, GARY. Mechanisms for addressing and managing the influence of corporations on public health policy, research and practice: a scoping review. BMJ OPEN, v. 10, n. 7, 2020. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; CORVALAN, CAMILA; CEDIEL, GUSTAVO; SCAGLIUSI, FERNANDA BAEZA; REYES, MARCELA. Food industry political practices in Chile: ``the economy has always been the main concern{''}. GLOBALIZATION AND HEALTH, v. 16, n. 1, OCT 27 2020. (17/24744-0)

MIALON, MELISSA; CEDIEL, GUSTAVO; JAIME, PATRICIA CONSTANTE; SCAGLIUSI, FERNANDA BAEZA. `A consistent stakeholder management process can guarantee the `social license to operate{''}: mapping the political strategies of the food industry in Brazi. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, v. 37, n. 1, 2021. (17/24744-0)