Corporate political activity of the food industry in the development of food policies in Latin America and the Caribbean: a narrative review of the current literature

Abstract

Background: In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the commercial interests of the food industry dominate the food environment, jeopardising current efforts to improve the health and nutrition of the population. This study aims to document action strategies, mechanisms and practices (ASMP) of corporate political activity (CPA) employed by the food industry to obstruct public health, food, and nutrition policies in LAC countries. A narrative review was conducted based on publicly available data sources from scientific and grey literature across the 33 countries in the LAC region. Data were collected on the food industry's CPA within the health, food and nutrition policy cycle. For the analysis, the framework developed by Ulucanlar et al. (2023) to categorise ASMP of CPA, together with the policy cycle model proposed by Knill and Tosun (2008), was applied.

Results: Documents published from January 2018 to October 2024 were examined using search strategies across multiple databases and citation tracking. In total, 76 documents from 24 countries in LAC were included in the analysis. The majority of documents originated from Mexico (n = 22, 28.9%) and Brazil (n = 12, 15.8%), with a notable concentration published in 2022. Front-of-pack food labelling and taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages were the policies with the most documented CPA evidence. The most frequently identified action strategy was accessing and influencing policy making (n = 69, 90.8%), primarily in the policy cycle formulation, adoption and implementation phases. While the CPA mechanisms and practices varied by country, more than 900 examples of practices were documented throughout the review.

Conclusions: Despite the limited availability of public information in LAC -particularly in Central America and the Caribbean- this review identified a broad range of ASMP used to influence health, food and nutrition policy processes. These findings highlight the need for a multifaceted response to counteract the harmful effects of the food industry's influence in the LAC region and underscore the urgency of safeguarding public health. Establishing robust legal frameworks to regulate conflicts of interest and to ensure greater transparency throughout the policy cycle are critical steps toward creating healthier food environments across the region.

Keywords: Corporate Political Activity; Food Industry; Food Policy; Latin America and the Caribbean; Non-communicable Diseases; Ultra-processed Products.

Fig. 1

Flow diagram of document review on Food Industry CPA in Latin America and the Caribbean

Fig. 2

Latin American and Caribbean countries with evidence of food industry CPA from 2018 to 2024. No evidence (grey): a country with no evidence; Very Low (light blue): a country with 1–5 documents; Low (sky blue): a country with 6–10 documents; Moderate (azure blue): a country with 11–15 documents; High (cobalt blue): a country with 16–20 documents; and Very High (navy blue): a country with more than 21 documents. Own elaboration

Fig. 3

Food industry corporate political activity in LAC based on health, food and nutrition policies (2018–2024). *Additional practices included in the taxonomy: 1. Other policies and national programmes include policies to reduce sodium intake, trans fatty acid regulation, food production and national food programmes focused on childhood malnutrition. 2. Countries belonging to"LAC"in the multi-country documents: Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay. 3. Countries belonging to "LAT" in the multi-country documents: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. 4. Countries included in the Caribbean documents: Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Grenada. Own elaboration, adapted from Ulucanlar et al. (2023)