‘We must have a sufficient level of profitability’: food industry submissions to the French parliamentary inquiry on industrial food

ABSTRACT

In March 2018, the French parliament launched an inquiry into industrial food and its ‘nutritional quality, role in the emergence of chronic diseases, and the social and environmental impact of its origin’. Our aim was to analyse the food industry’s submissions to the inquiry, particularly discussions around the role that the food industry has played in the non-communicable disease (NCD) epidemic. We studied the submissions of 23 food industry actors. We generated three main themes from our analysis: i) a redefinition of the nature and activities of the food industry, where food industry actors, for example presented themselves as part of the French culture and as experts on the science of diet and health; ii) an industry framing of the problem, with, for example, a focus on other actors in the industry and on consumers; and iii) industry preferred solutions in response to the NCD epidemic, such as reformulation, education or personal responsibility. We conclude that food industry actors’ rhetoric in their submissions to the inquiry could have a potentially negative influence on the development of public health policies in France: it could slow the policy-making process and could lead to the adoption of ineffective solutions. Our findings could help policy makers, public health professionals and the public to better distinguish between the narratives that are of valid relevance for public health from those that merely serve the interests of food industry actors.

KEYWORDS:

• Public policy
• corporate political activity
• commercial determinants of health

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Jane Y. Polsky and Rebecca Tanaka for copy editing this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher's website.

Supporting information caption

Overview of supporting information files S1–11: official submissions, as transcribed by the French government, for the following food industry actors:

1. ADEPALE, CTCPA and Bonduelle

2. ANIA and Alliance 7

3. Groupe Bertrand

4. CNA

5. Danone

6. Distribution (Retailers)

7. Findus

8. Fleury MIchon

9. FNSEA, Confederation paysanne, Coordination Rurale 77, Jeunes Agriculteurs

10. SNIAA, SYFAB and SYNPA

11. Sodexo and SNRC

Additional information

Funding

MM received a grant number 2017/24744-0, from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil. The authors are solely responsible for the opinions, hypotheses and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication, and they do not necessarily reflect FAPESP’s vision.