Assessing the health impact of transnational corporations: a case study on McDonald’s Australia

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

 

An Art Deco McDonald’s in Clifton Hill, Victoria,  Australia. Credit.

The practices of transnational corporations affect population health through production methods, shaping social determinants of health, or influencing the regulatory structures governing their activities. There has been limited research on community exposures to TNC policies and practices. Our pilot research used McDonald’s Australia to test methods for assessing the health impacts of one TNC within Australia. We adapted existing Health Impact Assessment methods to assess McDonald’s activities. We identified both positive and detrimental aspects of McDonald’s Australian operations across the scope of the HIA framework. We found that McDonald’s outlets were slightly more likely to be located in areas of lower socioeconomic status. McDonald’s workplace conditions were found to be more favourable than those in many other countries which reflects compliance with Australian employment regulations. The breadth of findings revealed the need for governments to strengthen regulatory mechanisms that are conducive to health; the opportunity for McDonald’s to augment their corporate social responsibility initiatives and bolster reputational endorsement; and civil society actors to inform their advocacy towards health and equity outcomes from TNC operations. Our study indicates that undertaking a corporate health impact assessment is possible, with the different methods revealing sufficient information to realise that strong regulatory frameworks are need to help to avoid or to mediate negative health impacts.

Citation: Anaf J, Baum FE, Fisher M, Harris E, Friel S. Assessing the health impact of transnational corporations: a case study on McDonald’s Australia. Globalization and Health 2017;13: 7.

‘Dangerous’ and ‘Dumb’: Trump Signs Executive Order Torching Regulations

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week that aims to slash regulations—an action, advocacy groups say, that puts lives at risk, writes Andrea Germanos for Common Dreams. The order—the latest of a flurry since he took office—states that “for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination,” fulfilling a campaign promise he made. “For fiscal year 2017, which is in progress, the heads of all agencies are directed that the total incremental cost of all new regulations, including repealed regulations, to be finalized this year shall be no greater than zero.” Trump said before signing the order: “We’ll be reducing [regulations] big league,” adding “This will be the biggest such act our country has ever seen.”

Canadian health group charges that food and beverage industry is marketing children and youth to death

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The new Heart & Stroke 2017 Report on the Health of Canadians entitled The Kids Are Not Alright examines how unlimited food and beverage marketing targeted at Canadian kids is negatively affecting preferences and choices, their family relationships and their health. The group polled Canadians to understand their perspectives and commissioned one of the country’s leading researchers to examine the volume of digital food and beverage advertising to Canadian children and teens, to assess the quality of the products, and to examine how well industry is regulating itself — the first research of its kind in Canada. The report concludes that Canadian children and youth are bombarded with ads for unhealthy products all day, every day, influencing their food and beverage choices. This is having a devastating effect on their health and setting up conflict at home.

Our food system needs an overhaul. Let’s start now: A corporate view

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

Unilever’s ice cream brands   credit

At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Amanda Sourry President, Global Foods for Unilever presented her company’s views on how food companies need to change.  Excerpts from her talk:

At Unilever, we are committed to sustainable nutrition – to food that is both made and consumed sustainably. For us this means producing safe, high-quality, nutritious food that is accessible to all, with respect for the environment and less waste, benefiting the livelihoods of food growers and helping to improve the nutrition and well being of consumers. We recognize the role we have to play as one of the largest food companies in the world to help redesign the global food system, so that it can provide a growing world population with healthy food from a healthy planet….

We must also recognize, however, that the “broken food system” has resulted in a lack of consumer trust in “big food” companies. An external environment shaped by confusing, complicated and sometimes even contradictory nutrition guidance means that consumer trust in science and in scientific experts has often been diminished. It is not enough to fix the system that provides the food we eat, we must also rebuild consumer trust in the food industry, so that we can empower consumers to make healthier and more sustainable food choices every day.

Players in the food industry need to ensure that they are putting consumer health first and foremost when considering corporate policies towards issues like food labelling and marketing to children, and ensuring their activities encourage responsible consumption, so that healthier choices become easier choices for consumers.

Additionally, recognizing the impact of global climate change on the agriculture system, we big food companies must continue to make climate-smart interventions along supply chains, and encourage consumers to transition to more plant-based nutrition…We cannot achieve such massive transformation to the global food system alone. That’s why I think that of all the Sustainable Development Goals, Number 17 – Partnerships for the Goals – is the most important. No single organization can fundamentally change our food system: collaboration, co-creation and partnerships with a variety of stakeholders are key. From the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, to the Alliance for Good Breakfast in Kenya – a partnership between the UN World Food Programme, GAIN, the Health and Education Ministries and our fortified Blue Band spreads – we seek to collaborate with like-minded organizations to create food that tastes good, does good and doesn’t cost the earth…By mobilizing like-minded partners to view the food system holistically from production to consumption, I believe we can co-develop a new global food system that provides universal access to healthy, nutritious food, grown sustainably, while at the same time protecting the natural environment, improving livelihoods of producers and suppliers, and the health of consumers as well. I’d like to think that now is the time, in the spirit of responsive and responsible leadership, for us to come together to do just that.

For the full text, click here.

Trump tells US automakers he’ll cut taxes and regulations, says environmentalism is out of control

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U.S. President Donald Trump pushed the chief executives of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler on Tuesday to increase production in the United States and boost American employment, reports Reuters. Trump opened a meeting with GM CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Mark Fields and Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne at the White House by saying he wants to see new auto plants built in the United States. The new Republican president vowed to cut regulations and taxes to make it more attractive for businesses to operate in the United States…U.S. automakers have been reluctant to open new U.S. auto plants in recent years, but they have expanded operations at existing U.S. plants…With flattening U.S. auto sales and some excess capacity, U.S. automakers may be reluctant to agree to open new plants, which likely would not come online for several years. Tuesday’s gathering was the first time the CEOs of the big three automakers have met jointly with a U.S. president since a 2011 session with Barack Obama to tout a deal to nearly double fuel efficiency standards by 2025…Automakers have urged the Trump administration to rethink those aggressive fuel efficiency mandates.

Nutrition labelling is a trade policy issue: lessons from an analysis of specific trade concerns at the World Trade Organization

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

Interpretive nutrition labels provide simplified nutrient-specific text and/or symbols on the front of pre-packaged foods, to encourage and enable consumers to make healthier choices. This type of labelling has been proposed as part of a comprehensive policy response to the global epidemic of non-communicable diseases. However, regulation of nutrition labelling falls under the remit of not just the health sector but also trade. Specific Trade Concerns have been raised at the World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade Committee regarding interpretive nutrition labelling initiatives in Thailand, Chile, Indonesia, Peru and Ecuador. This paper presents an analysis of the discussions of these concerns. Although nutrition labelling was identified as a legitimate policy objective, queries were raised regarding the justification of the specific labelling This analysis indicates that while there is potential for trade sector concerns to stifle innovation in nutrition labelling policy, care in how interpretive nutrition labelling measures are crafted in light of trade commitments can minimize such a risk and help ensure that trade policy is coherent with nutrition action.

Full Citation:   Thow  AM,  Jones A,  Hawkes C, Ali I, Labonté R. Nutrition labelling is a trade policy issue: lessons from an analysis of specific trade concerns at the World Trade Organization Health Promot Int (2017) daw109.

An Economy for the 99 Percent

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Eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity, according to a new report published by Oxfam today to mark the annual meeting of political and business leaders in Davos. Oxfam’s report, ‘An economy for the 99 percent’, shows that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had been feared. It details how big business and the super-rich are fuelling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we manage our economies so that they work for all people, and not just a fortunate few.

The Regulation of Alcohol Marketing: From Research to Public Health Policy

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A new special issue of the journal Addiction examines the state of knowledge on regulating alcohol marketing.  In an overview, Maristela Monteiro, Thomas Babor, David Jernigan and Chris Brookes summarize three key themes in these papers: alcohol marketing causes harm to vulnerable populations; industry self-regulation is ineffective in protecting vulnerable populations; and alternatives are available to address the problem.  They conclude that renewed action by governments to control alcohol marketing is needed.

Coca-Cola, ABA Accused of Tobacco-Like Deception in Lawsuit

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Coca-Cola Co. was sued by activists who compare the beverage giant’s advertising tactics to the tobacco industry’s past efforts in minimizing the health effects of its products and targeting children to replenish the ranks of its customers, reports Bloomberg. The nonprofit Praxis Project seeks to stop Coke and the Washington-based American Beverage Association from deceptive advertising of sugary drinks, particularly to children, and for the disclosure of documents related to their impact on health. Studies have linked sugary drinks to obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the group said. A copy of the lawsuit is available here.

Working Around the World To Kick The Big Tobacco Habit

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Ten years ago, writes Kelly Henning from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Health program in the Health Affairs blog, the world was a different place when it came to tobacco. Fewer than twenty developing countries in the world had even one strong tobacco control policy in place. The tobacco industry was beginning an aggressive ramping up of nefarious activities to grow their market share in vulnerable developing countries. And although advocates for tobacco control measures had a major public health victory in passing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world’s first public health treaty, little financial or technical help was available to support countries that wanted to put life-saving, proven tobacco control policies in place. Early in 2007, the tobacco control landscape was changed dramatically when Michael R. Bloomberg, then in his second term as mayor of the City of New York, donated $125 million through his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, for a two-year commitment to reducing global tobacco use. Now ten years and a total of $600 million later, Bloomberg recently committed another $360 million over six years to this life-saving work, bringing his total financial commitment to nearly $1 billion. In that time, nearly 100 countries worldwide with a total of more than four billion people have passed at least one strong tobacco control law—and fifty-nine of these countries with nearly 3.5 billion people have received Bloomberg support.