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With soda consumption declining in the West, businesses are trying to find new customers elsewhere. This Coke bottle ad is in Mozambique.
Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
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Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
With soda consumption declining in the West, businesses are trying to find new customers elsewhere. This Coke bottle ad is in Mozambique.
Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images
So how can we get people to drink more soda?
This is a problem that Coca-Cola and other soda makers are grappling with as soda beverages decline in the US and European markets.
In the 2010s, Coca-Cola did a great job of expanding sales of carbonated soft drinks to rural areas in low-income countries. So they made a smaller, more durable bottle. The 1 cup size makes it cheaper to sell and likely to last longer on the shelf.
They built solar-powered coolers that allowed sellers to keep Coke bottles cold away from the power grid and provided cell phone charging for customers.
And they launched a “splash bar”. It’s a small, woman-owned business that sells shots of Coke, Fanta, and other Coca-Cola products for as low as 7 cents a serving of her, making beverages affordable for everyone.
Eduardo J. Gómez is the author of a new book junk food politics: How the beverage and fast food industries are reshaping emerging economies.
Eduardo J. Gomez
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Eduardo J. Gomez
The company presented this strategy as a win-win. They benefited because their products became more accessible in remote areas and women entrepreneurs got new ways to make a living.
This is the story Eduardo J. Gomez tells in his new book. As he points out, Coke’s win-win characterization is not universally accepted.
Gomez, director of Lehigh University’s Institute for Health Policy and Politics, said Coca-Cola is one of many junk food companies that are fast food giants like McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken. It rises with trade with wealthy countries.
In these countries, many consider the ability to buy so-called junk food (not just sodas, but packaged potato chips and candy, chain fast food, etc.) a mark of success. And junk food makers are trying to put a positive face on their campaigns. to expand your audience. They are forging partnerships with local governments to combat hunger and poverty, despite rising junk food consumption and soaring rates of obesity and diabetes.
in his new book junk food politics: how the beverage and fast food industries are reshaping emerging economies, Gomez describes a two-way path for industry and political leaders to work together to launch well-meaning social programs, while also avoiding regulation that undermines industry interests. As a result, junk food industries thrive in low-resource countries, where children and the poor end up with long-term health problems from consuming ultra-processed foods high in sugar.
NPR spoke to Gomez about junk food barges, soda taxes, and why healthy eating campaigns can’t beat candy and fried chicken ads. Conversations have been edited for length and clarity.
Let’s start with a simple question. What is junk food?
Johns Hopkins University Press
I define junk food as highly processed fast food, from KFC to burgers, candies, sweets, and ice cream. Junk food is also sugary carbonated soda drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew.
What role does junk food play in low- and middle-income countries?
These junk foods are now proliferating not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas of the Amazon in India, Mexico and Brazil.
In emerging countries, these foods that were not [previously] Accessible suddenly became very accessible in the 1990s or early 2000s.
we are watching [a vast and rapid] These food penetrations because of what I call “fear and opportunity.” Industry Fear of Losing Market [share] Because in the West there is an “opportunity” [growing] The middle class in these emerging economies eager to buy them.
What is the junk food policy?
Junk food politics is a two-way street.When is it [junk food] Because the industry influences politics and society, it can avoid regulations that affect profitability, such as taxes on junk food and regulations on marketing and sales.
We often hold the industry responsible.But governments are also responsible [because political leaders partner with industry on their own political agendas – which gives industry clout to undermine policies that would cut their profits].
What’s a good example of junk food politics in action?
For example, in Brazil, industry associations have emerged, [like the Brazilian Food Industry Association] It was very influential in lobbying Congress and infiltrating state agencies working to regulate it. [like advertising restrictions for junk food]They are working on a partnership [with governments and communities where] They can be recognized as solutions to problems [of obesity and diabetes] for example, [sharing] nutritional information. They build legitimacy and avoid costly regulation.
at the same time, [Brazil’s] President Lula [in his prior term] There was a famous anti-hunger campaign. And Lula worked with Nestlé to strengthen the program, even creating an office in the Presidential Palace to partner with industries that want to contribute to the hunger eradication programme. This was a strategic two-way partnership that would benefit industry and government.
Of course, President Lula’s intentions to alleviate hunger were admirable. But partnering with a company that produces a lot of these ultra-processed foods was probably not a good idea, as it would indirectly justify the company. Amplifies harmful effects.
Obesity and diabetes rates tend to rise as wealth in low-resource countries increases. What is the extent of the problem? why does that happen?
The incidence of childhood obesity is increasing much more rapidly in developing countries [than in the West]. [Rates of] Adolescent type 2 diabetes is very high in India, China and Mexico.
The rural poor are also becoming obese and diabetic. This is something we don’t normally expect. In India, for example, from the 1990s to his early 2000s, obesity was considered a “luxury disease.” It was perceived that only those who had the status and money to go to fast food restaurants had this problem. [growing rates of diabetes and obesity] As it affects a very small percentage of the population.
But now, with increased access to junk food, it has become a common problem.
How did your access grow? How did junk food, which was concentrated in urban areas, become a common food in rural areas?
[Junk food distribution] It started in the city, then [expand] to other parts of the country. In Brazil, for a while Nestle owned these big blue Nestle boats that traveled all over the Amazon and distributed candies and cookies all over the Amazon. [The “junk food barges,” as critics called them, have stopped]In rural India, there are places where you can have a Coca-Cola while charging your phone.
In any country, junk food is a voluntary purchase. I eat at will. So why aren’t programs that encourage healthy eating, daily exercise, and nutrition labeling enough to persuade people to avoid it?
Of course, we want people to be aware of nutritional information. Chile, for example, has introduced more effective food labels. Products high in salt, sugar and fat employ these black octagon images that appear on food. This is spreading across the Americas.
But people are always flooded with marketing and access [to processed foods]Even with this knowledge, there are incentives to eat these readily available and less healthy products.
What you’re saying is that while healthy eating and exercise campaigns focus on the individual, health and nutrition deficiencies are rooted in larger systemic problems.
that’s right. Nutritional information is very important, but it is not enough. We have to deal with socioeconomic factors, marketing factors, all these factors. [making junk foods an easy, accessible choice].
Governments in resource-poor countries have made some progress, you say, in improving the taxation and labeling of junk food.
none Percentage of governments that have committed to limiting advertising. [Countries have, instead, relied on voluntary pledges from companies to refrain from marketing unhealthy foods to children.] Many of these countries do not have clear laws about what can be sold in schools. And even when there are laws and regulations against the sale of junk food in schools, they are not effectively enforced.
There is a paradox. [such as Mexico, Brazil, India and Indonesia] Obesity and diabetes are still on the rise. We are not challenging these industries.
What does junk food politics cost society?
The costs to society are very high, mainly because of the health effects. When he develops type 2 diabetes due to excessive sugar intake, it has a huge impact on his quality of life. For example, in Argentina, insulin affordability is at stake. In the context of global universal health care, insufficient attention is paid to ensuring that the poor do not go bankrupt, unable to obtain the medicines they need to deal with hypertension and disease. [blood] sugar.
what is the solution? What can cut into the impact of junk food politics on public health?
The solution is to have a government committed to ensuring the health of society as a whole. Provide activists and communities with a voice that equals or exceeds the voice of industry within government. A company that is not afraid to challenge a powerful industry and create regulations that protect vulnerable people, especially children and the poor, more than the interests of big business.
And the solution is also, as a researcher and as a member of the community, to raise awareness about the importance of proper nutrition and exercise, and to raise awareness about the need for access to healthier foods. Our activities in
And are you wondering if climate change will play any role?
That is the subject of my next book – Climate Change and Malnutrition.
And your thesis, with climate change…
… the availability of healthy foods is increasingly scarce.
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