Podcast Topic: Food Industry Behavior & Marketing
The Leading Voices in Food
Podcast Topic: Food Industry Behavior & Marketing
E205: Here’s what sugar and zero-calorie sweeteners do to your body
May 17, 2023
Today we speak with an expert on sugar and things meant to replace it. The stakes are high. Very high. Sugar consumption in the population is astronomical and so is the use of sugar replacements. Knowing the impacts of both could help experts provide dietary guidance and help consumers make decisions. Dr. Robert Lustig is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. He specializes on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system; body weight regulation, appetite, metabolism, and is very well known for his work on sugar and their substitutes and on policies aimed at improving the diet of the population. A YouTube video on the effects of consuming sugar called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” has now been viewed 24 million times.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Safety & Food Defense | Zero Calorie Sweeteners |
E203: It works – Chile’s Law on Food Labeling and Marketing
April 18, 2023
In 2016, the Chilean government implemented a comprehensive set of obesity prevention policies aimed at improving the food environment for children. Results from a multi-year study of that regulation, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, can now tell us if Chilean children are better off as a result of the policy. Guests on this podcast include: Dr. Gabriela “Gabi” Fretes. She is an Associate Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Dr. Camila Corvalan is the Director of the Center for Research in Food Environments and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases Associated with Nutrition at the University of Chile. And, Dr. Sean Cash is an economist, Associate Professor of Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, and the Bergstrom Foundation Professor in Global Nutrition at Tufts University
Related podcasts: Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Children Food Preferences | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | School Meals |
E201: Junk Food Politics – the price of outsized corporate influence
April 10, 2023
Processed food industries are thriving in developing countries, despite government commitment to eradicating non-communicable diseases, prevention programs aim at reducing obesity, type two diabetes, and sugary beverage consumption. What’s more, political leaders in some countries are reluctant to regulate the marketing and sale of these products, particularly among vulnerable groups, like children and the poor. Like me, you might be asking yourself: why? Our guest today is the author of a new book, “Junk Food Politics: How Beverage and Fast Food Industries Are Reshaping Emerging Economics.” His name is Professor Eduardo Gomez, Director of the Institute of Health Policy and Politics, at Lehigh University.
Related podcasts: Advocacy & Food | Childhood Obesity | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Soda Taxes |
E191: Is today’s food waste a consequence of historical public policy?
December 14, 2022
Today’s podcast is part of a series on food waste. When farmers produce more of a product than people are willing to buy, or when the demand for a product falls unexpectedly, food is wasted. What role do agricultural policies and politics play in creating and perpetuating cycles of supply challenges? Our guest today is Dr. Garrett Graddy-Lovelace of American University. Garrett is an agricultural policy expert and she studies the problem of food gluts through the lens of social sciences, international affairs, history and analysis of USDA data.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Food Waste & Implications | International Food & Ag Policy |
E189: FDA Plans to Update Health Claim on Food Packaging
December 5, 2022
Food packaging can make shopping a pretty difficult process. Packaging can be a blitz of marketing strategies, where fact and misdirection are hard to distinguish. Plainly put, food labels are often confusing for consumers. So what is the Food and Drug Administration doing about this? We’re happy today to have Dr. Susan Mayne join us. She is the director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the FDA. She has done a lot of work on this topic.
Related podcasts: Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing |
E181: UK Stands Firm in Ruling Against Kellogg Cereals
September 21, 2022
In July, 2022 food giant Kellogg lost a court challenge of the United Kingdom’s high sugar cereal rule. The multinational food company had argued that the UK government’s inclusion of their serials among and I quote, less healthy foods is unfair because it doesn’t take into account the milk that is usually added to the cereals. The UK court dismissed the claim and is enforcing regulations, is limiting the promotion of foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar in UK supermarkets as part of their efforts to curb obesity. Here to speak with us today about the implications of this ruling is Anna Taylor, executive director of The Food Foundation in London.
Related podcasts: Advocacy & Food | Childhood Obesity | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Food, Psychology & Neuroscience | International Food & Ag Policy |
E177: Introducing Operation Good Food & Beverages – New Way to Think about Black Activism
July 27, 2022
What can be done to reverse racialized marketing of unhealthy foods to Black Americans? What if healthy eating could be seen as a radical act, or even as a form of Black activism and liberation? Today, we’re talking about these issues with Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika about a new campaign called Operation Good Food and Beverages. This is an advocacy movement developed by and for Black youth who want to reclaim healthy food as part of Black lives. Shiriki is an emeritus professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and research professor at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Advocacy & Food | Childhood Obesity | Equity, Race & Food Justice | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing |
E170: Why the US Must Reduce Sodium Intake: It’s Costing Lives
June 10, 2022
Today, we’re going to talk salt with Dr. Michael Jacobson, former president and co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Dr. Jacobson is one of the authors of an important article published recently in the journal Hypertension. The article comes to a startling conclusion that delays in implementing voluntary sodium reduction targets by the food and restaurant industry may result in nearly 265,000 preventable deaths between 2017 and 2031.
Related podcasts: Advocacy & Food | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Food Safety & Food Defense | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |
E162: Ultra-processed Foods Need a Warning Label to Protect Consumers
March 3, 2022
In today’s podcast, we’re talking about ultra-processed foods. Our guest today is Trish Cotter from the global public health organization Vital Strategies. She’s the author of a new commentary published in the BMJ Global Health calling for warning labels on ultra-processed foods.
Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Food Safety & Food Defense | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |
E156: Myths About Industrial Agriculture That Affect Us All
February 10, 2022
So there’s a big question out there that’s being asked over and again: do massive multinational corporations have an outsized control of our food system, and what does this mean for all of us? Disruptions in food supply chains recently have highlighted the vulnerabilities of an industrialized agriculture system that according to some does not benefit farmers, farm workers or even consumers. Today, we’re going to explore a new report from the organization Farm Action entitled “The Truth About Industrial Agriculture: A Fragile System Propped Up By Myths and Hidden Costs.” Our guest today is Dee Laninga, senior communications manager for Farm Action.
Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Community & Economic Development | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Voice of Farming |