The Food Industry and Self-Regulation: Standards to Promote Success and to Avoid Public Health Failures
FRAMING HEALTH MATTERS
The Food Industry and Self-Regulation: Standards to Promote Success and to Avoid Public Health Failures
Lisa L. Sharma, MBA, MPH, Stephen P. Teret, JD, MPH, and Kelly D. Brownell, PhD
Threatened by possible government regulation and critical public opinion, industries often undertake self-regulatory actions, issue statements of concern for public welfare, and assert that self-regulation is sufficient to protect the public. The food industry has made highly visible pledges to curtail children’s food marketing, sell fewer unhealthy products in schools, and label foods in responsible ways. Ceding regulation to industry carries opportunities but is highly risky. In some industries (e.g., tobacco), self-regulation has been an abject failure, but in others (e.g., forestry and marine fisheries), it has been more successful. We examined food industry self-regulation in the context of other self-regulatory successes and failures and defined 8 standards that should be met if self-regulation is to be effective. (Am J Public Health. 2010;100:240–246. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.160960)
Alarmed by links between poor diet and disease, as well as striking increases in obesity, policymakers, the public, and health professionals have challenged food industry practices.1–3 Although many forces contribute to obesity and poor diet, food industry behaviors such as marketing unhealthy foods to children, promoting large portions and betweenmeal snacks, and exploiting schools for commercial gain have raised calls for government regulation and paved the path for actions such as requiring calorie labeling in restaurants.4,5 Industry practices affecting children have raised special concern, particularly regarding food marketing.6 According to a recent report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), businesses spent $9.6 billion marketing food and beverages in 2007. Of this, nearly $1.7 billion was spent on marketing specifically targeted to children and adolescents, most
The Food Industry and Self-Regulation: Standards to Promote Success and to Avoid Public Health Failures
Lisa L. Sharma, MBA, MPH, Stephen P. Teret, JD, MPH, and Kelly D. Brownell, PhD
Threatened by possible government regulation and critical public opinion, industries often undertake self-regulatory actions, issue statements of concern for public welfare, and assert that self-regulation is sufficient to protect the public. The food industry has made highly visible pledges to curtail children’s food marketing, sell fewer unhealthy products in schools, and label foods in responsible ways. Ceding regulation to industry carries opportunities but is highly risky. In some industries (e.g., tobacco), self-regulation has been an abject failure, but in others (e.g., forestry and marine fisheries), it has been more successful. We examined food industry self-regulation in the context of other self-regulatory successes and failures and defined 8 standards that should be met if self-regulation is to be effective. (Am J Public Health. 2010;100:240–246. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.160960)
Alarmed by links between poor diet and disease, as well as striking increases in obesity, policymakers, the public, and health professionals have challenged food industry practices.1–3 Although many forces contribute to obesity and poor diet, food industry behaviors such as marketing unhealthy foods to children, promoting large portions and betweenmeal snacks, and exploiting schools for commercial gain have raised calls for government regulation and paved the path for actions such as requiring calorie labeling in restaurants.4,5 Industry practices affecting children have raised special concern, particularly regarding food marketing.6 According to a recent report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), businesses spent $9.6 billion marketing food and beverages in 2007. Of this, nearly $1.7 billion was spent on marketing specifically targeted to children and adolescents, most
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