The economic impacts of social activism and corporate social responsibility on food fraud.

The study examines the relationship between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments of a food firm, an activist's incentive to target the firm to uncover and deter fraudulent behavior, and the firm's incentive to commit food fraud. Specifically, we develop a game theoretic model to analyze the strategic interaction between a food firm that decides whether to provide a credence food attribute and whether to misrepresent the quality of its product, and an activist who decides whether to monitor the firm and launch a campaign to uncover and remove false/misleading quality claims. We further examine the effect of CSR and the activist's presence on the level of quality the firm provides. We derive the conditions under which an activist will find it optimal to monitor the firm to uncover fraudulent quality claims and the firm will find it optimal to misrepresent its product quality. Analytical results show that the greater the firm's CSR investments, the less likely it is that the activist will find it optimal to monitor the firm, and the more likely it is that the firm will find it optimal to misrepresent its product quality. Results also show that the firm is more likely to misrepresent its product quality when its effectiveness in contesting the activist's campaign is relatively high, and more likely to actually provide a high-quality product when the cost of the credence attribute is relatively low.

Cross-sectional examination of commercial milk formula industry funding of international, regional and national healthcare professional associations: protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Commercial milk formula manufacturers often emphasise their role in supporting infant and young child nutrition and breastfeeding, but their commercial goals to increase volume and profit margin of formula sales conflict with these declarations. Healthcare professional associations have an important role in healthcare worker education, shaping clinical practice. When healthcare professional associations enter into financial relationships with formula manufacturers, conflicts of interest arise, which may undermine education and practice that promotes optimal infant and young child feeding. The World Health Assembly calls on all parties to avoid such conflicts of interest, but it is uncertain how often this recommendation is followed. This protocol documents a systematic method to identify funding from the commercial milk formula industry among international, regional and national associations of healthcare professionals. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Using systematic search strategies in the Gale Directory Library and Google, we will identify international healthcare professional associations relevant to maternal and child health. Data regarding funding relationships with the commercial milk formula industry over the past 24 months will be extracted from the official websites or, in their absence, social media accounts by two independent analysts. The analysis will focus on the presence of conflict of interest or sponsorship policies and type of funding, such as sponsorship or payment for services. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study does not require ethical approval and will use data available in the public domain. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles, at conferences and among the healthcare professional associations.

Safe Food Supply Chain as Health Network: An Evolutionary Game Analysis of Behavior Strategy for Quality Investment.

There is a natural relation between human health and the quality of their food and drinks, and elevating the quality input level of food production for all enterprises within the food supply chain system forms the foundation for preventing various potential food safety risks that may be encountered. Unlike the previous research on quality investment of food production by enterprises, this paper probes into the evolutionary routes of the behavior strategy selection of subjects in the food supply chain and the preconditions for the equilibrium points of the social co-governance system. It takes the approach of establishing a tripartite evolutionary game model of food suppliers, food manufacturers and consumers on the basis of the social co-governance framework, in view of the above, this paper focuses on the influence of the reputation mechanism and the market contracts among supply chain subjects on the selection of a behavior strategy for quality investment by enterprises under the condition of lawful regulation by government. The results show that every subject selects their own behavior strategy on the basis of the balance of their respective interests. The net disbursement incurred by enterprises for quality investment and the costs of participation in governance by consumers constitute the dominant factors that influence both enterprises' selection of a behavior strategy and the level of social co-governance. Compared with the increase in economic punishment imposed on suppliers for production of risky food raw materials, it is more efficient to control food safety risks by lowering the costs of quality investment by suppliers. Accordingly, this paper proposes advice on policy in an attempt to provide inspiration for preventing and controlling food safety risks.

'A recipe for cultural disaster!'- a case study of Woolworths Group's proposal to build an alcohol megastore in Darwin, Northern Territory.

BACKGROUND: The health and wellbeing impacts of commercial activity on Indigenous populations is an emerging field of research. The alcohol industry is a key driver of health and social harms within Australia. In 2016 Woolworths, the largest food and beverage retailer in Australia, proposed to build a Dan Murphy's alcohol megastore in Darwin, near three 'dry' Aboriginal communities. This study examines the tactics used by Woolworths to advance the Dan Murphy's proposal and understand how civil society action can overcome powerful commercial interests to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing. METHODS: Data from 11 interviews with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal informants were combined with data extracted from media articles and government, non-government and industry documents. Thematic analysis was informed by an adapted corporate health impact assessment framework. RESULTS: Woolworths employed several strategies including lobbying, political pressure, litigation, and divisive public rhetoric, while ignoring the evidence suggesting the store would increase alcohol-related harm. The advocacy campaign against the proposal highlighted the importance of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups working together to counter commercial interests and the need to champion Aboriginal leadership. Advocacy strategies included elevating the voices of community Elders in the media and corporate activism via Woolworths' investors. CONCLUSIONS: The strategies used by the coalition of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal groups may be useful in future advocacy campaigns to safeguard Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing from commercial interests.

A captura corporativa de sistemas alimentares

O controle sobre os sistemas alimentares - das sementes ao prato - está sempre mais concentrado nas mãos de algumas empresas.

Front-of-Pack Labeling in Chile: Effects on Employment, Real Wages, and Firms' Profits after Three Years of Its Implementation.

This study evaluates the impact of Chile's innovative law on Food Labeling and Advertising, enacted in June 2016, on employment and real wages and profit margins for the food and beverage manufacturing sectors in the 2016-2019 period, using unique company-specific monthly data from Chile's tax collection agency (measuring aggregate employment, real wages, average size of firms, and gross profit margins of the food and beverage manufacturing sector). Interrupted-time series analyses (ITSA) on administrative data from tax-paying firms was used and compared to synthetic control groups of sectors not affected by the regulations. ITSA results show no effect on aggregate employment nor on the average size of the firms, while they show negligible effects on real wages and gross margin of profits (as proportion of total sales), after the first two stages of the implementation (36 months), despite significant decreases in consumption in certain categories (sugar-sweetened beverages, breakfast cereals, etc.). Despite the large declines found in purchases of unhealthy foods, employment did not change and impacts on other economic outcomes were small. Though Chile's law, is peculiar there is no reason to believe that if similar regulations were adopted elsewhere, they would have different results.

The Contribution of Major Food Categories and Companies to Household Purchases of Added Sugar in Australia.

BACKGROUND: The Australian Government will soon be releasing a series of sugar reformulation targets for packaged foods. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the amount of added sugar purchased from packaged food and beverages and the relative contribution that food categories and food companies made to these purchases in 2018. The secondary objective was to examine differences in purchases of added sugar across income levels. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: We used 1 year of grocery purchase data from a nationally representative panel of Australian households (the NielsenIQ Homescan panel), combined with a packaged food and beverage database (FoodSwitch). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Added sugar purchases (grams per day per capita), purchase-weighted added sugar content (grams per 100 g) and total weight of products (with added sugar) purchased (grams per day per capita). STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Food categories and food companies were ranked according to their contribution to added sugar purchases. Differences in added sugar purchases by income levels were assessed by 1-factor analysis of variance. RESULTS: Added sugar information was available from 7188 households and across 26,291 unique foods and beverages. On average, the amount of added sugar acquired from packaged foods and beverages was (mean ± SE) 35.9 ± 0.01 g/d per capita. Low-income households purchased 11.0 g/d (95% CI: 10.9-11.0 g/d, P < .001) more added sugar from packaged products than high-income households per capita. The top 10 food categories accounted for 82.2% of added sugar purchased, largely due to purchases of chocolate and sweets, soft drinks, and ice cream and edible ices. Out of 994 food companies, the top 10 companies contributed to 62.1% of added sugar purchases. CONCLUSIONS: The Australian Government can strengthen their proposed sugar reduction program by adding further category-specific targets, prioritizing engagement with key food companies and considering a broader range of policies to reduce added sugar intakes across the Australian population.

Jeffrey Sachs' speech at the UN food systems pre-summit (full speech)

Speaking about food systems transformation, colonialism, the CIA, the Republicans, the UN budget, and taxing the rich

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seed: A review on bioactives and biomedical activities.

The processing of tomato fruit into puree, juices, ketchup, sauces, and dried powders generates a significant amount of waste in the form of tomato pomace, which includes seeds and skin. Tomato processing by-products, particularly seeds, are reservoirs of health-promoting macromolecules, such as proteins (bioactive peptides), carotenoids (lycopene), polysaccharides (pectin), phytochemicals (flavonoids), and vitamins (α-tocopherol). Health-promoting properties make these bioactive components suitable candidates for the development of novel food and nutraceutical products. This review comprehensively demonstrates the bioactive compounds of tomato seeds along with diverse biomedical activities of tomato seed extract (TSE) for treating cardiovascular ailments, neurological disorders, and act as antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial agent. Utilization of bioactive components can improve the economic feasibility of the tomato processing industry and may help to reduce the environmental pollution generated by tomato by-products.

Changes in soft drinks purchased by British households associated with the UK soft drinks industry levy: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in household purchases of drinks and confectionery one year after implementation of the UK soft drinks industry levy (SDIL). DESIGN: Controlled interrupted time series analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Members of a panel of households reporting their purchasing on a weekly basis to a market research company (average weekly number of participants n=22 183), March 2014 to March 2019. INTERVENTION: A two tiered tax levied on manufacturers of soft drinks, announced in March 2016 and implemented in April 2018. Drinks with ≥8 g sugar/100 mL (high tier) are taxed at £0.24/L and drinks with ≥5 to <8 g sugar/100 mL (low tier) are taxed at £0.18/L. Drinks with <5 g sugar/100 mL (no levy) are not taxed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Absolute and relative differences in the volume of, and amount of sugar in, soft drinks categories, all soft drinks combined, alcohol, and confectionery purchased per household per week one year after implementation of the SDIL compared with trends before the announcement of the SDIL. RESULTS: In March 2019, compared with the counterfactual estimated from pre-announcement trends, purchased volume of drinks in the high levy tier decreased by 155 mL (95% confidence interval 240.5 to 69.5 mL) per household per week, equivalent to 44.3% (95% confidence interval 59.9% to 28.7%), and sugar purchased in these drinks decreased by 18.0 g (95% confidence interval 32.3 to 3.6 g), or 45.9% (68.8% to 22.9%). Purchases of low tier drinks decreased by 177.3 mL (225.3 to 129.3 mL) per household per week, or 85.9% (95.1% to 76.7%), with a 12.5 g (15.4 to 9.5 g) reduction in sugar in these drinks, equivalent to 86.2% (94.2% to 78.1%). Despite no overall change in volume of no levy drinks purchased, there was an increase in sugar purchased of 15.3 g (12.6 to 17.9 g) per household per week, equivalent to 166.4% (94.2% to 238.5%). When all soft drinks were combined, the volume of drinks purchased did not change, but sugar decreased by 29.5 g (55.8 to 3.1 g), or 9.8% (17.9% to 1.8%). Purchases of confectionery and alcoholic drinks did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with trends before the SDIL was announced, one year after implementation, the volume of soft drinks purchased did not change. The amount of sugar in those drinks was 30 g, or 10%, lower per household per week-equivalent to one 250 mL serving of a low tier drink per person per week. The SDIL might benefit public health without harming industry. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN18042742.

Microbial biofilm: A matter of grave concern for human health and food industry.

Pathogenic microorganisms have adapted different strategies during the course of time to invade host defense mechanisms and overcome the effect of potent antibiotics. The formation of biofilm on both biotic and abiotic surfaces by microorganisms is one such strategy to resist and survive even in presence of antibiotics and other adverse environmental conditions. Biofilm is a safe home of microorganisms embedded within self-produced extracellular polymeric substances comprising of polysaccharides, extracellular proteins, nucleic acid, and water. It is because of this adaptation strategy that pathogenic microorganisms are taking a heavy toll on the health and life of organisms. In this review, we discuss the colonization of pathogenic microorganisms on tissues and medically implanted devices in human beings. We also focus on food spoilage, disease outbreaks, biofilm-associated deaths, burden on economy, and other major concerns of biofilm-forming pathogenic microorganisms in food industries like dairy, poultry, ready-to-eat food, meat, and aquaculture.

Research Note: Indian poultry industry vis-à-vis coronavirus disease 2019: a situation analysis report.

Originating in Wuhan city, Hubei province of China, and rapid spread to multiple countries, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has emerged as a novel public health emergence. During early February, spread of misinformation and rumors driven by the fear of linking chicken meat and eggs in the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among human population is witnessed in India. This resulted drastic reduction in consumption of poultry products with subsequent fall in demand thereby prices. The COVID-19-driven lockdown during March in the country has further accentuated the crippling poultry industry following the arrest of feed and healthcare essentials and destruction of eggs, chicks, and birds. Here, we have analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on the poultry industry and showed the realistic flow of events that resulted in its economic fallout by disruption of poultry protein chain during pandemic crisis. The projected loss caused because of these events for the Indian poultry industry is around USD 3053 million. The economic impact is not uniform across the country owing to regional differences in consumption pattern and percent non-vegetarians.

Effects of operating conditions on biogas production in an anaerobic digestion system of the food and beverage industry.

BACKGROUND: Food residuals (FR) were anaerobically biotransformed to produce biogases (e.g. methane and hydrogen), and different pre-treatment conditions, including particle size, oil content, pH and salt content, were controlled in this study. The bio-solids of a municipal solid waste (MSW) from a wastewater treatment plant were added to assess its effect on anaerobic transformation efficiency and gas yields. RESULTS: The breaking of FR and the application of MSW were effective in enhancing the transformation efficiency and yield of biogases. The energy transfer efficiency value of the combined FRs used in this study was probably 23%. However, it can be very cost effective to apply arbitrary proportions to treat two types of FR in the anaerobic digestion tank of a wastewater treatment plant. It was also found that the alkalinity and pH value were two major parameters that controlled the success of the transformation. About 0.16-0.17 kg of alkalinity was needed during the anaerobic digestion of 1 kg dry FR, but this requirement was decreased by the treatment applying MSW. Olive oil had higher reducing rates when used as a substitute for heat-oxidized oil to study the effect of oil content on methylation. CONCLUSION: The conditions for anaerobic digestion established in this study were practical for the digestion of FR in wastewater treatment plants in Taiwan. However, we nonetheless found that it was cost effective to use arbitrary proportions for both types of FR and integrate the anaerobic digestion process used in wastewater treatment plants. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Current state and future directions of bioeconomy in the Czech Republic.

This article presents the current status of the development of bioeconomy in the Czech Republic. Although the country has no unified strategy on bioeconomy, there are ambitious governmental innovation strategies and focused strategies for each region. Traditionally, the country has had a strong research performance in chemistry and biology, which together with developed agriculture, forestry and food industries, provides a good foundation for the development of locally based circular systems. Moreover, the government supports research on tools and applications of new plant breeding technologies, including genome editing, and there is a strong initiative from the research community calling to update EU regulatory policy in this area.

On the benefits and challenges of blockchains for managing food supply chains.

The expansion of the food industry, within and beyond national borders, has resulted in complex collaborative networks and supply chains. The management culture adopted for food supply chains has an impact on the quality of the end product and the vitality of the businesses involved. In this report, we focus on the use of blockchain technology, and distributed ledgers in general, for managing supply chains in the food and agricultural sectors. We explore the challenges with which typical management systems are faced, such as food safety, food fraud, and inefficient processes, as well as ethical aspects like fair trade, animal welfare, and the environmental impact of food production. The use of blockchain-based systems for managing a supply chain offers significant benefits, such as faster and more reliable traceability. Our analysis, involving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Denmark, highlights that SMEs could benefit from blockchain-based systems that encourage fair trade and authenticity documentation, expose good practices, and decrease management costs. However, due to a lack of important policies and standards, and due to the limited understanding of the technology itself, its large-scale adoption is at the moment immature. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Estimated health benefits, costs, and cost-effectiveness of eliminating industrial trans-fatty acids in Australia: A modelling study.

BACKGROUND: trans-fatty acids (TFAs) are a well-known risk factor of ischemic heart disease (IHD). In Australia, the highest TFA intake is concentrated to the most socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Elimination of industrial TFA (iTFA) from the Australian food supply could result in reduced IHD mortality and morbidity while improving health equity. However, such legislation could lead to additional costs for both government and food industry. Thus, we assessed the potential cost-effectiveness, health gains, and effects on health equality of an iTFA ban from the Australian food supply. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Markov cohort models were used to estimate the impact on IHD burden and health equity, as well as the cost-effectiveness of a national ban of iTFA in Australia. Intake of TFA was assessed using the 2011-2012 Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. The IHD burden attributable to TFA was calculated by comparing the current level of TFA intake to a counterfactual setting where consumption was lowered to a theoretical minimum distribution with a mean of 0.5% energy per day (corresponding to TFA intake only from nonindustrial sources, e.g., dairy foods). Policy costs, avoided IHD events and deaths, health-adjusted life years (HALYs) gained, and changes in IHD-related healthcare costs saved were estimated over 10 years and lifetime of the adult Australian population. Cost-effectiveness was assessed by calculation of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) using net policy cost and HALYs gained. Health benefits and healthcare cost changes were also assessed in subgroups based on socioeconomic status, defined by Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) quintile, and remoteness. Compared to a base case of no ban and current TFA intakes, elimination of iTFA was estimated to prevent 2,294 (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 1,765; 2,851) IHD deaths and 9,931 (95% UI: 8,429; 11,532) IHD events over the first 10 years. The greatest health benefits were accrued to the most socioeconomically disadvantaged quintiles and among Australians living outside of major cities. The intervention was estimated to be cost saving (net cost <0 AUD) or cost-effective (i.e., ICER < AUD 169,361/HALY) regardless of the time horizon, with ICERs of 1,073 (95% UI: dominant; 3,503) and 1,956 (95% UI: 1,010; 2,750) AUD/HALY over 10 years and lifetime, respectively. Findings were robust across several sensitivity analyses. Key limitations of the study include the lack of recent data of TFA intake and the small sample sizes used to estimate intakes in subgroups. As with all simulation models, our study does not prove that a ban of iTFA will prevent IHD, rather, it provides the best quantitative estimates and corresponding uncertainty of a potential effect in the absence of stronger direct evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Our model estimates that a ban of iTFAs could avert substantial numbers of IHD events and deaths in Australia and would likely be a highly cost-effective strategy to reduce social-economic and urban-rural inequalities in health. These findings suggest that elimination of iTFA can cost-effectively improve health and health equality even in countries with low iTFA intake.

Inventory of marketing techniques used in child-appealing food and beverage research: a rapid review.

OBJECTIVES: Restrictions on child-appealing food and beverage marketing have been prioritized globally. However, the concept of "child-appealing marketing" has not been consistently defined, leading to variability in policies and research. The objective of this review was therefore to generate an inventory of the marketing techniques that have been used in research to identify child-appealing marketing. METHODS: Based on WHO guidelines, this review identified primary research that analyzed child-appealing marketing techniques, using the OVID Medline database and hand searches in Google Scholar and PubMed. All marketing techniques were extracted, counted, and synthesized into an inventory, organized thematically and by popularity. RESULTS: From 133 publications, 1421 marketing techniques were extracted (mean 10.7/publication; range: 1-66). The final inventory included 117 techniques; the "use of characters, children, and actors" was the most popular theme. CONCLUSIONS: The inventory and categorization generated by this research can be used for informing future research and for alerting policy-makers globally to the breadth of child-appealing food and beverage marketing techniques, helping move toward a consistent and comprehensive definition of child-appealing marketing in regulations aimed at restricting this type of marketing.