Politicians must pay health before profits in addressing food industry's influence on consumers

Politicians must prioritise health ahead of industrial productivity and increased consumption, and address the unseen activities intentionally adopted by the food industry to shape consumer behaviour, according to an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Dr Bebe Loff, Director of the *Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health at Monash University, Melbourne, and her co-author, Mr Brad Crammond, Research Fellow, write that the regulation of consumer behaviour by industry is largely hidden and unregulated.

As part of an obesity intervention wish list, they propose that governments prohibit all forms of marketing of energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods, redesign supermarkets to promote fresh foods, and introduce measures such as kilojoule caps, prohibition of bundling, and greater uniformity in packaging design to make EDNP foods less enticing and less amenable to bulk purchase.

They also propose bans on government subsidies to food processing industries, taxing EDNP foods and using this revenue to subsidise fruit and vegetable purchases, and regulating the location and number of fast-food outlets by enacting urban planning laws.

“Those concerned by our wish list’s “nanny state” implications might helpfully redirect their focus to the many unseen measures intentionally adopted by the food industry to shape our behaviour,” Dr Loff said.

“It seems that without our knowledge or consent we are subject to the pervasive “nannying” activities of industry.”

Dr Loff said that because of the complex aetiology of modern obesity patterns, isolated therapeutic or public health measures would not solve the obesity problem.

“We believe that it is a mistake to invest principally in piecemeal and, perhaps, at times, misdirected therapeutic or public health responses, in the expectation that they will slow the so-called obesity epidemic,” she said.

“If we continue to ignore the vastly altered market in food that has developed over recent decades, we may be deluding not only the public but also ourselves.”

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

* Formally known as Human Rights and Bioethics at Monash University

^{The statements or opinions that are expressed in the MJA  reflect the views of the authors and do not represent the official policy of the AMA unless that is so stated.}

CONTACT:   
Dr Bebe Loff                                                    0418 815 754 / 03 9523 8576
Mr Brad Crammond                                           0422 814 950
Ms Samantha Blair, Monash Media Department     03 9903 4840