Report/ Food companies sell less healthy and quality products in poorer countries!
According to a new report, the world's largest food and beverage companies sell, on average, products in low-income countries that are less healthy than those they sell in high-income countries.
Products sold by well-known and prestigious companies were evaluated as part of a global index published by the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), the first since 2021.
The nonprofit group found that across 30 companies, products sold in low-income countries scored lower on a star rating system developed in Australia and New Zealand than those sold in high-income countries.
In the Health Star Rating system, products are ranked out of 5 in terms of their healthiness, with 5 being the best and a score above 3.5 considered a healthier choice.
In low-income countries, portfolios of multinational companies are rated at 1.8 in the system. In high-income countries, where more products were tested, they were 2.3.
"It's a very clear picture that what these companies are selling in the poorest countries in the world, where they are increasingly active, are not healthy products," Mark Wijne, director of research at ATNI, told Reuters.
"It's a wake-up call for governments in these countries to be vigilant," he added. It is the first time that the index divides the assessment into low- and high-income countries.
ATNI said the index was important as packaged foods are increasingly playing a role in the obesity crisis which is now a global phenomenon.
More than one billion people worldwide live with obesity, according to the World Health Organization. The World Bank estimates that 70% of people who are overweight or obese live in low- and middle-income countries.
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