The food giant Nestlé relies on an army of door-to-door vendors to reach into the poorest neighborhoods of Brazil for customers, “part of a broader transformation of the food system that is delivering Western-style processed foods and sugary drinks to the most isolated pockets of Latin America, Africa and Asia,” says the New York Times. “The story is as much about economics as it is nutrition.”
“In places as distant as China, South Africa and Columbia, the rising clout of big food companies translates into political influence, stymieing public health officials seeking soda taxes or legislation aimed at curbing the impacts of processed food,” reports the Times. The food industry says in an urbanizing world, shoppers demand the convenience of processed foods, which require less or no preparation time.
In 2010, Brazilian food and beverage companies sidelined an attempt to limit junk food ads aimed at children. “The latest challenge has come from the country’s president, Michel Temer, a business-friendly centrist whose conservative allies in Congress are now seeking to chip away at the handful of regulations and laws intended to encourage healthy eating.”
Last year, Bridget Huber reported on the shift in Brazil’s diet to ultra-processed foods in a story for The Nation in partnership with FERN. The story, “Slow food nation,” highlighted Nestlé’s push into the country and efforts by multinationals to develop markets across Latin America for processed foods. It also discussed Brazil’s response in its dietary guidelines and a novel school food program. Huber discussed the story in a Q&A with FERN, available here.