A realist review of 20 voluntary actions by the food and beverage industry in low- and middle-income countries analyses the implications of these actions for public health and policy. This realist review reveals that voluntary actions often aim to protect industry interests rather than improve public health.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Get just this article for as long as you need it
$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Qiao, J. et al. Global burden of non-communicable diseases attributable to dietary risks in 1990–2019. J. Hum. Nutr. Diet. 35, 202–213 (2022). A burden-of-disease study that presents the effects of dietary risks for NCDs on mortality and disability-adjusted life-years worldwide.
Building Momentum: Lessons on Implementing Evidence-informed Nutrition Policy (World Cancer Research Fund International, 2020); https://go.nature.com/3OFCIfFA report that describes evidence-informed nutrition polices, their implementation and the effect of the outlined NCD policies.
Moodie, R. et al. Ultra-processed profits: the political economy of countering the global spread of ultra-processed foods – a synthesis review on the market and political practices of transnational food corporations and strategic public health responses. Int. J. Health Policy Manag. 10, 968–982 (2021). This review provides an invaluable insight into how the market strategies and political practices of the food and beverage industry drive the NCD pandemic in middle-income countries.
Pawson, R. et al. Realist review — a new method of systematic review designed for complex policy interventions. J. Health Serv. Res. Policy 10, 21–34 (2005). This article describes the realist review methodology used in our research.
Erzse, A. et al. Availability and advertising of sugar sweetened beverages in South African public primary schools following a voluntary pledge by a major beverage company: a mixed methods study. Glob. Health Action 14, 1898130 (2021). This article demonstrates the lack of public health evidence to support a VA by a large beverage company in South Africa.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Erzse, A. et al. A realist review of voluntary actions by the food and beverage industry and implications for public health and policy in low- and middle-income countries. Nat. Food https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00552-5 (2022).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
No evidence that voluntary actions by the food and beverage industry can safeguard public health. Nat Food 3, 573–574 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00554-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00554-3
