Why food industry must come onside in the fight against flab

Date: 07/11/02

By Tom Brookes

The global obesity healthcare debate will change the way food is perceived, consumed and marketed.

FROM Sao Paulo to Copenhagen, at the United Nations, the World Health Organization and even the World Trade Organization, the issue of obesity is topping agendas across the world.

In the developed world, led by the US and the UK, average adult weight has increased by more than 10% in the past 20 years and obesity is now being heralded as an 'evolutionary' change, similar to the sudden increase in height (around 30 centimetres) seen in Europeans 200 years ago.

But obesity is not a debate in its infancy. Following the model of the tobacco debate in the US, it has already resulted in litigation. A man weighing 125kg is suing McDonald's and a number of other fast food chains claiming that they are responsible for his obesity.

And in this lies the question at the core of this debate. Who is responsible for the state of a citizen's health? The argument against those that would say the citizen has only him or herself to blame, points out the ever more sophisticated marketing and advertising methods employed by the global food industry to change a carbonated drink, a burger or an ice-cream from a sweet-tasting treat into a lifestyle statement by its consumer.

This argument becomes even more compelling when applied to the young.

In the words of Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general of the World Health Organization: 'You will see that children and youth are the targets of the new technologies of persuasion.

'Getting loyalty to brand names is the key to influencing consumer behaviour from the time children learn to walk brand name persuasion - whether for tobacco, alcohol or fast foods - is designed to take advantage of people's subconscious.

'They influence our own and, in particular, our children's pattern of behaviour.'

Brundtland's comments also reinforced the perception of a link between unhealthy foods and tobacco and alcohol: 'Excessive consumption of fatty, sugary and salty foods [is] even more dangerous when combined with the deadly forces of tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption,' she said during a speech at the World Health Assembly in May.

Considering this approach, it is not surprising that many, if not most, stakeholders are defaulting to blaming the makers and sellers of apparently unhealthy foods for the problem.

The perception of the citizen as victim is already having an effect. McDonald's recently announced it is cutting the percentage of fat in its fries in the US, amid growing concerns among consumers and government officials about obesity and diet.

And many other companies are already preparing legal defences of their past practices in readiness for class action litigation that is being led in the US by the same lawyers who successfully prosecuted the suits against 'big tobacco'.

However, governments are involving food companies in their discussions on the appropriate response to the 'fat crisis'. Marketing is the initial focus, as is almost always the case in high-risk sectors.

A study published in September by the International Obesity TaskForce and the European Association for the Study of Obesity finds that the costs of obesity may account for up to 8% of overall health budgets.

In line with Brundtland's arguments, the study underlines the danger of targeting children as consumers and calls on the EU to consider restrictions on advertising for junk food and sweets, as well as to prevent the installation of vending machines in schools.

In responses to the initial drafts of EU food labelling regulations, food manufacturers have indicated that such a restrictive approach would stifle innovation of products that are beneficial as part of a whole diet and lead to foods being classified as 'good' or 'bad', citing this as unhelpful to consumers.

The 'good versus bad' scenario sums up the current European approach to the issue succinctly. The perception at both a European and national level is that 'bad' foods need to be named and shamed and that 'good' foods should be promoted.

As regulation of levels of one food constituent or another would take years to design and implement, the focus is on advertising.

In the draft proposal being developed by the European Commission's DG SANCO (which handles health and consumer protection) on nutrition, functional and health claims made on foods this approach is clearly illustrated.

The draft suggests that to avoid abuse of labelling rules, products that do not have a 'desirable' nutritional profile should not be allowed to carry claims of health benefits. This would cover biscuits, cakes, and confectionery, for example.

In the eyes of the European Union, foods can be divided into the good and the bad, and those that are currently beautified through the 'technologies of persuasion' must be revealed in all their ugliness.

If the global food industry, from manufacturing to retailing, is to be able to avoid the pariah status achieved by many tobacco companies, it must act first to secure the trust of both the public and government, and those acts must be, and be seen to be, effective in combating the obesity epidemic.

Key in the debate, as has already been displayed by the rash of media coverage of the subject over the past few months, will be the statistics.

It is by percentages of population, percentages of children, average weights and average calorie counts that the effectiveness of any actions will be measured in the public mind.

Consumer groups are clearly aware of this fact and have been fighting a numbers war. They have also have been careful to point out any inconsistencies in figures released by industry.

Issues of the health of the populace, the health of the planet, sustainability, globalisation, protection of minors and the 'company against the people' have been wrapped together in this debate - which is fast hitting the top of political agendas across the developed world.

Now is the time for the food industry at every level to open its doors and engage with government and the public to take on this issue as a committed team player.

In this way the battle lines can be redrawn and place industry (the bad guys) along side NGOs, people and government (the good guys) to fight the problem rather than each other.

• Tom Brookes is associate director with public affairs and strategic communications firm APCO Online in Brussels.

Author says the global obesity healthcare debate will change the way food is perceived, consumed and marketed.