Abstract
Objectives
To identify the corporate political activity (CPA) of food industry actors in South Africa.
Methods
We studied the CPA of ten different food actors for the period Jan 2018–April 2019. We used a systematic approach and existing framework to collect and analyse information available in the public domain, including material from the industry, government, academia and civil society.
Results
Food industry actors in South Africa established multiple relationships with various parties in and outside the South African government. These included interactions between large food companies and the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Sport & Recreation, the Department of Health, and the Department of Agriculture. In addition, the food industry-sponsored community programs, with a focus on poverty alleviation and undernutrition. Moreover, food industry actors influenced science were directly involved in policy-making and helped frame the debate on diet and public health in South Africa.
Conclusions
It is crucial that there is increased transparency, disclosure, and awareness of industry strategies, and that mechanisms to address and manage industry influence are strengthened in the country.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Delobelle P, Sanders D, Puoane T, Freudenberg N (2016) Reducing the role of the food, tobacco, and alcohol industries in noncommunicable disease risk in south africa. Health Educ Behav 43:70S–81S. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198115610568
Fooks GJ, Williams S, Box G, Sacks G (2019) Corporations’ use and misuse of evidence to influence health policy: a case study of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation. Global Health 15:56. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0495-5
Gilmore AB, Fooks G, Drope J et al (2015) Exposing and addressing tobacco industry conduct in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet 385:1029–1043. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60312-9
Global Nutrition Report (2018) Global Nutrition Report—South Africa. https://globalnutritionreport.org/media/profiles/v2.1.1/pdfs/south-africa.pdf. Accessed 28 April 2020
Gómez EJ (2019) Coca-Cola’s political and policy influence in Mexico: understanding the role of institutions, interests and divided society. Health Policy Plan. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czz063
Grant-Marshall S (2018) At the centre of a sugar storm. Fin24
Greenhalgh S (2019) Soda industry influence on obesity science and policy in China. J Public Health Policy 40:5–16. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-018-00158-x
Hillman AJ, Hitt MA (1999) Corporate political strategy formulation: a model of approach, participation, and strategy decisions. Acad Manag Rev 24:825. https://doi.org/10.2307/259357
Holden C, Hawkins B, McCambridge J (2012) Cleavages and co-operation in the UK alcohol industry: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health 12:483. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-483
Holmes T (2018) Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my levy. Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg
Igumbor EU, Sanders D, Puoane TR et al (2012) Big food,” the consumer food environment, health, and the policy response in South Africa. PLoS Med 9:e1001253. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001253
IOGT International (2019) South Africa #WHA72 Calls 4 urgent action to tackle commercial determinants of health!!As long as food, alcohol, tobacco, beverage industries profit from unhealthy people #BeatNCDs will remain out of reach. Also highlights their work on alcohol, tobacco, SSB tax #SATX #CDoH… https://t.co/LSSnK2dgBq. Twitter. Accessed 16 June 2020
Jaichuen N, Phulkerd S, Certthkrikul N et al (2018) Corporate political activity of major food companies in Thailand: an assessment and policy recommendations. Global Health 14:115
Koplan JP, Brownell KD (2010) Response of the food and beverage industry to the obesity threat. JAMA 304:1487–1488. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2010.1436
Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S (2015) It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 49:967–968. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2015-094911
Mialon M, Mialon J (2018) Analysis of corporate political activity strategies of the food industry: evidence from France. Public Health Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018001763
Mialon M, Swinburn B, Sacks G (2015) A proposed approach to systematically identify and monitor the corporate political activity of the food industry with respect to public health using publicly available information. Obes Rev 16:519–530. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12289
Mialon M, Swinburn B, Allender S, Sacks G (2016a) Systematic examination of publicly-available information reveals the diverse and extensive corporate political activity of the food industry in Australia. BMC Public Health 16:283. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-2955-7
Mialon M, Swinburn B, Wate J et al (2016b) Analysis of the corporate political activity of major food industry actors in Fiji. Global Health 12:18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-016-0158-8
Mialon M, Julia C, Hercberg S (2018) The policy dystopia model adapted to the food industry: the example of the Nutri-Score saga in France. World Nutr 9:109–120
Monteiro CA, Moubarac JC, Cannon G et al (2013) Ultra-processed products are becoming dominant in the global food system. Obes Rev 14(Suppl 2):21–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12107
Moodie R, Stuckler D, Monteiro C et al (2013) Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. Lancet 381:670–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)62089-3
Savell E, Gilmore AB, Fooks G (2014) How does the tobacco industry attempt to influence marketing regulations? A systematic review. PLoS One 9:e87389. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087389
South African Revenue Service (2018) Health Promotion Levy on Sugary Beverages. https://www.sars.gov.za/ClientSegments/Customs-Excise/Excise/Pages/Health%20Promotion%20Levy%20on%20Sugary%20Beverages.aspx. Accessed 7 May 2019
Steele S, Ruskin G, Sarcevic L et al (2019) Are industry-funded charities promoting “advocacy-led studies” or “evidence-based science”?: a case study of the International Life Sciences Institute. Global Health 15:36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-019-0478-6
The International Food and Beverage Alliance (2018) Our commitments—responsible marketing to children—global policy on marketing communications to children. https://ifballiance.org/uploads/media/59eddc9fba341.pdf. Accessed 16 June 2020
The PLoS Medicine Editors (2012) Plos medicine series on big food: the food industry is ripe for scrutiny. PLoS Med 9:e1001246. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001246
The United Nations (2011) Political Declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. 66/2. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth session, Agenda item 117
Tselengidis A, Östergren P-O (2019) Lobbying against sugar taxation in the European Union: analysing the lobbying arguments and tactics of stakeholders in the food and drink industries. Scand J Public Health 47:565–575. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494818787102
Funding
This study was funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies. The authors are solely responsible for the opinions, hypotheses and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication, and they do not necessarily reflect Bloomberg Philanthropies’s vision.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval and Informed consent
This study did not need ethical approval and informed consent as it only included material available from the public domain.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article is part of the special issue “Market-driven forces and Public Health”.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mialon, M., Crosbie, E. & Sacks, G. Mapping of food industry strategies to influence public health policy, research and practice in South Africa. Int J Public Health 65, 1027–1036 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01407-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01407-1