Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, par. 29 and par. 30 (2014)

Text of the recommendation

29. The responsibility to respect the right to health requires the food industry to refrain from engaging in activities that negatively impact the right of people to the highest attainable standard of health. Where States have enacted legislation as part of national health policies to discourage consumption of unhealthy foods and promote healthier options, the food industry has the responsibility to comply with such laws and desist from undertaking activities that would undermine these policies. They should take measures to prevent, mitigate and remedy adverse impacts of their actions. For example, in light of the negative impact of food marketing and promotion activities on children’s diets, the food industry has the responsibility to refrain from advertising unhealthy products to children in accordance with national laws and regulations. Failure to exercise such restraint under domestic law may amount not only to a violation of the law, but also of the right to health. Similarly, the food industry should desist from promoting false or misleading health claims about their products, consistent with their responsibility to respect the right to health. Health claims about food products have often been shown to be unverifiable and deceptive about relative health benefits. Moreover, even where unhealthy ingredients like sugar and fat content are replaced with refined starch and promoted as “healthier” food options, they are still processed foods with minor improvement in nutritional quality.

30. Studies have shown that the food industry uses various strategies to undermine public health nutrition efforts. For example, the food industry hires prominent academics for their advisory boards, which may result in findings being more favourable towards the food industry, with the danger that the food industry may use such biased findings to support its claims on nutrition. Other tactics include the funding of front groups (that appear independent, yet are controlled by other organizations), lobbying and instituting lawsuits and threats thereof. It has also been shown that, under the guise of corporate social responsibility to meet their ethical obligations towards society at large, big soft drink companies have attempted to shift the burden of the responsibility to make healthier choices onto consumers instead of addressing their role in creating an unhealthy food environment. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility has also been used by the big soft drink industry as a means to thwart attempts at government regulation and increase sales of their products, particularly to children. Such acts result in a negation of the right to health.