To Tackle Obesity, Unleash The Food Industry

Industry can’t be relegated to the kid’s table at upcoming White House Conference

The White House has announced it will be hosting its first food policy conference in over fifty years on September 28, 2022. Driving the bus for this gathering are public health luminaries, celebrity chefs like José Andrés, nutrition experts, heads of food policy institutes and government officials. But except for FMI – the trade association for food retailers – the packaged food, beverage and restaurant industries have not been invited to sit at the adult table. And that’s a shame, because only their full engagement can help overcome today’s most vexing nutritional problems.

Since the first White House Conference in 1969, the face of malnutrition in America has changed; it is more bloated rather than hollowed. The Centers for Disease Control pegs the adult obesity rate at over 42%, and childhood obesity at more than 22%. The Partnership for a Healthier America estimates that the obesity rate for kids has quadrupled in the past 40 years. And about a quarter of youths age 17-24 are too heavy to serve in the military.

Over the past decade or so, efforts to curb rising obesity rates have focused on restricting food industry practices. Among the approaches deployed by governments and the public health community include taxing sodas, placing warning signs on package labels and banning the sale of so-called “junk foods.”

Echoing these tactics, a 2019 conference on the 50th Anniversary of the first White House convening published a report reaffirming these policies. Forty-one organizations signed-on in support for this initiative, yet not one was a food company or industry association.

This challenge requires a far bigger arsenal of solutions than what has traditionally been advanced. Expanding the availability of fresh produce in “food deserts” is a laudable goal, but it won’t be enough. Health department and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation research has shown that in taxed municipalities and countries, such as Mexico, Chile and healthy Berkeley, California, obesity rates continue to climb. And research conducted by Natural Marketing Institute and Hudson Institute have shown that fewer than one-third of consumers with the highest rates of obesity read nutritional labels on food packages.

No tax, ominous label, or below eye-level display can override the very human tendency to gravitate towards food that is comforting, ready-to-eat or easy to prepare, cheap and convenient. Which is why we need to unleash the food industry’s involvement and capabilities to deliver solutions.

Some industry segments have made real commitments. The soft drink industry has spent over $100 million promoting smaller sizes and less sugar in its products. Many companies have made a commitment through the PHA to shave calories and reduce portion sizes. Even the confectionery industry has stepped up, offering indulgent treats in smaller portions.

Yet more needs to be done.

Instead of pushing out the old menu of constraints and shackles on food companies, the White House Conference should take bold action to really make a difference. Some recommendations follow:

1. Invest in food R&D the same way as for Covid-19 vaccines. Obesity is a pandemic just like Covid-19. It is the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States behind cigarette smoking. Industry spends a paltry 1-2% on average on R&D; but they know food and how to create “bliss points.” Government should provide the incentives and capital necessary to develop breakthrough science and products that nourish our citizens, that are tasty and that affordably help consumers shift to healthier weights.
2. Unleash industry’s marketing prowess. Food, beverage and restaurant companies spend $14 billion annually in the U.S. compared to the CDC’s entire budget of $1 billion for all chronic disease prevention and health promotion. The industry can collectively commit to deploy 2% to 3% of these dollars to take on obesity the same way Anheuser-Busch InBev took on the most important problems facing its industry: drunk driving, underage drinking and other harmful uses of alcohol. And they can learn from AB InBev’s example: their $1 billion⁺ investment has been good for business.
3. Prove your case to Wall Street. Food industry analysts have huge impact on whether investors should buy (or sell) a company’s stock. A decade ago, Hudson Institute studies showed that better-for-you foods were good for business and that these items drove sales growth. Providing these analysts with updated studies demonstrating the importance of healthier foods to sales growth and profitability would go a long way to accelerating the introduction of and marketing support behind healthier foods, beverages and restaurant menu items. These foods are the growth stocks of the future.

Right now the food and beverage industries are not a central part of the discussion, so what’s likely to come out of the conference will be forced on them. Malnourishment in America is still a problem. If we don’t involve major industries that contribute to it, don’t expect to see much progress.