The Impact of Transnational “Big Food” Companies on the South: A View from Brazil

Abstract

Throughout human history, traditional food systems and dietary patterns have been intrinsic to social, cultural, and economic life, and to personal, community, and national identity. Although these long-established dietary patterns are rarely if ever nutritionally ideal, they are linked with low rates of obesity and chronic diseases, and can be readily improved by modifications that respect tradition and culture, and national and local resources. However, the policies and practices of transnational food and drink corporations (see Box 1), most of whose products are ultra-processed and whose headquarters are almost invariably in the US and Europe, are now steadily displacing traditional food systems around the world. Box 1. Big Food, Big Snack, and Ultra-Processed Products The term “Big Food” refers to the transnational and other large corporations that increasingly control the production and distribution of ultra-processed products throughout the world. These products are created from substances extracted from whole foods such as the cheap parts or remnants of animals, inexpensive ingredients such as “refined” starches, sugars, fats and oils, preservatives, and other additives [34],[35]. The products are formulated to be intensely palatable and to fool the body's appetite control mechanisms [36],[37]. Many of these products, while legal, are in effect fakes, made to look and taste like wholesome food. They are formulated and packaged to have a long shelf life and to eliminate the need for culinary preparation. They can be consumed anywhere, immediately or almost immediately, and often dispense with the need for tables, chairs, dishes, cutlery, and cups. They are therefore often termed “fast” or “convenience” products. Some ultra-processed products, such as breads and sausages, have been part of dietary patterns in many countries since before industrialization. Others, such as burgers, chips, cookies, sweets, “nuggets,” energy bars, and carbonated and other sugared or sweet drinks, are more recent, at least in the quantity now manufactured. Since the 1980s, “Big Snack”—the transnational manufacturers of packaged, long shelf-life snacks designed to displace meals—have greatly increased their penetration first of high-income countries, and now of lower-income countries, including Brazil [21].