"The architecture of the state was transformed in favour of the interests of companies": corporate political activity of the food industry in Colombia

Author(s)

Mialon, Melissa ; Gaitan Charry, Diego Alejandro ; Cediel, Gustavo ; Crosbie, Eric ; Baeza Scagliusi, Fernanda ; Perez Tamayo, Eliana Maria

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: GLOBALIZATION AND HEALTH; v. 16, n. 1, p. 16-pg., 2020-10-12.

Abstract

Background In Colombia, public health policies to improve food environments, including front-of-pack nutrition labelling and marketing restrictions for unhealthy products, are currently under development. Opposition to these policies by the food industry is currently delaying and weakening these efforts. This opposition is commonly known as 'corporate political activity' (CPA) and includes instrumental (action-based) strategies and discursive (argument-based) strategies. Our aim was to identify the CPA of the food industry in Colombia. Methods We conducted a document analysis of information available in the public domain published between January-July 2019. We triangulated this data with interviews with 17 key informants. We used a deductive approach to data analysis, based on an existing framework for the CPA of the food industry. Results We identified 275 occurrences of CPA through our analysis of publicly available information. There were 197 examples of instrumental strategies and 138 examples of discursive strategies (these categories are not mutually exclusive, 60 examples belong to both categories). Interview participants also shared information about the CPA in the country. The industry used its discursive strategies to portray the industry in a 'better light', demonstrating its efforts in improving food environments and its role in the economic development of the country. The food industry was involved in several community programmes, including through public private initiatives. The industry also captured the media and tried to influence the science on nutrition and non-communicable diseases. Food industry actors were highly prominent in the policy sphere, through their lobbying, close relationships with high ranking officials and their support for self-regulation in the country. Conclusions The proximity between the industry, government and the media is particularly evident and remains largely unquestioned in Colombia. The influence of vulnerable populations in communities and feeling of insecurity by public health advocates is also worrisome. In Colombia, the CPA of the food industry has the potential to weaken and delay efforts to develop and implement public health policies that could improve the healthiness of food environments. It is urgent that mechanisms to prevent and manage the influence of the food industry are developed in the country. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/24744-0 - 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
• Grantee: Melissa Amina Madeleine Cavallo Mialon
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral