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Article – Two countries, similar practices: The political practices of the food industry influencing the adoption of key public health nutrition policies in Guatemala and Panama

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Objective:

To identify the corporate political activity (CPA) strategies used by food industry actors during the development of two public health nutrition policies in Central America: Law #570 (taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages) in Panama, and Bill #5504 (labeling and food marketing regulations) in Guatemala.

Results:

Instrumental strategies included the establishment of relationships with policy makers and direct lobbying against the proposed public policies. Discursive strategies were mainly criticizing on the unfounded ground that they lacked evidence of effectiveness and will imply negative impacts on the economy. The industry pointed at individuals for making their own food choices, in order to shift the focus away from the role of its products in contributing to ill-health.

Conclusions:

We provide evidence of the political practices used by the food industry to interfere with the development and implementation of public health nutrition policies to improve diets in Central America. Policy makers, public health advocates and the public should be informed about those practices and develop counter-strategies and arguments to protect public and policies from the vested interests of the food industry.

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Article – Did the octagons respect international law? Compatibility analysis of the Law on the Promotion of Healthy Eating for healthy eating for children and adolescents in adolescents of Peru

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This article presents a legal analysis of Peru’s compliance with the WTO TBT Agreement by developing a series of technical regulations on healthapplicable to food known as “octagons”. It starts from the study of the internal regulations in light of the international one, supported by jurisprudence and doctrine, to finally conclude that the Agreement was not fully complied.

For further information, you can access the original source in Spanish
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Article – Ecuador: Traffic-light Nutrition Labeling Preferences among Ecuadorian Children

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This study evaluates the effect of traffic-light (TL) nutritional label attributes on Ecuadorian children’s food choices. Data was collected from a survey of 1,179 Ecuadorian students attending public middle and high school in three major cities located in the southern region of the country (Machala, Loja, and Zamora). The survey instrument included two sets of choice experiments: one with yogurt products and the other with soft drinks (sodas and juice). In the choice scenarios, children were presented with two products that differed in price and the TL label colors for sugar, salt, and fat. Children’s product selections in the choice experiments were analyzed using mixed logit models. Results indicate that children are willing to pay increasing premium levels for products with yellow, green, and “does not contain…” labels compared to products with red labels. Overall, study findings offer evidence that TL labels are effective at helping children make food choices consistent with preferences for food products with TL labels representing healthier alternatives.

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Brazil – Article: The Brazilian State has assured the human right to adequate food for people with celiac disease?

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Introduction: By assuming adequate food as a social right, the Brazilian State became the bearer of the duty to respect, provide, promote and protect the Human Right to Adequate Food (HRAF) for all Brazilians, including celiacs. Therefore, it is essential that the State institute a normative apparatus compatible with the needs of the celiac population, guaranteeing the fulfillment of their rights. Objective: to assess whether the legislation in force in Brazil meets the demands of people with celiac disease. Methods: document analysis was adopted according to the methodology proposed by Pimentel. The set of documents analyzed is composed of all publications found that express the demands of celiacs, including: articles, manuals and complaint letters from representative bodies. Results: The incipience of legal instruments was observed, aggravated by the fact that a significant portion of the demands of the celiac population has not yet been covered by the current set of regulations. The legislation in force expresses the existence of specific initiatives in some Brazilian states and municipalities, which do not cover the entire national territory. This situation does not comply with the principle of universality that governs the HRAF, compromising the demand for compliance and reparation by public bodies for the celiac population. Conclusion: due to the punctual and incipient nature of the Brazilian legal apparatus, it remains predominantly the responsibility of civil society, individually or through representative associations, initiatives that guarantee the realization of the Human Right to Adequate Food for celiacs.

For further information, you can access the original source in Portuguese

Ecuador – Article: Organic Law of Ecuador’s Food Sovereignty Regime

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Ecuador adopted the concept of food sovereignty as a policy framework, being the first country to recognize food sovereignty in the current Constitution and later as the Food Sovereignty Law (LORSA in Spanish). However, food security is also addressed in the general and national framework.
The LORSA, in its Article 1, indicates that this Law aims to “establish mechanisms through which the State complies with its obligation and strategic objective of guaranteeing individuals, communities and peoples the self-sufficiency of healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food on a permanent basis”.

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For further information, you can access the original source in Spanish