Processed foods and the nutrition transition: evidence from Asia

This paper elucidates the role of processed foods and beverages in the ‘nutrition transition’ underway in Asia. Processed foods tend to be high in nutrients associated with obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases: refined sugar, salt, saturated and trans-fats. This paper identifies the most significant ‘product vectors’ for these nutrients and describes changes in their consumption in a selection of Asian countries. Sugar, salt and fat consumption from processed foods has plateaued in high-income countries, but has rapidly increased in the lower– middle and upper–middle-income countries. Relative to sugar and salt, fat consumption in the upper–middle- and lower–middle-income countries is converging most rapidly with that of high-income countries. Carbonated soft drinks, baked goods, and oils and fats are the most significant vectors for sugar, salt and fat respectively. At the regional level there appears to be convergence in consumption patterns of processed foods, but country-level divergences including high levels of consumption of oils and fats in Malaysia, and soft drinks in the Philippines and Thailand. This analysis suggests that more action is needed by policy-makers to prevent or mitigate processed food consumption. Comprehensive policy and regulatory approaches are most likely to be effective in achieving these goals

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE IN PROCESSED FOODS: PATTERNS AND CURIOSITIES

International Relations/Trade,

MARKET ACCESS FOR HIGH-VALUE FOODS

Market access remains a major impediment for expansion of global trade in high-value foods, particularly processed foods. Countries use tariffs and other measures that effectively stimulate imports of relatively unprocessed agricultural commodities at the expense of processed products. Tariff escalation, in which tariffs rise with the level of processing, discourages trade in high-value foods, and trade remedy measures, such as antidumping duties, are concentrated among high-value products. Globalization has provided countries with easier access to capital and technology needed to produce processed food, further affecting trade patterns and markets for high-value foods. A uniform cut in tariffs increases trade in high-value foods more than trade in raw agricultural commodities and improves real wages in developing and developed countries.Food trade, processed food, high-value foods, tariff, tariff escalation, trade remedy measures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, safeguard measures, revealed comparative advantage, trade complementarities, International Relations/Trade,

Economic Features of Canadian Organic Food at the Mass-market Retail Level

Over the past decade, Canada’s organic food industry has focused on the production of organic grains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables and a limited amount of organic dairy products. Canadian organic grains and oilseeds are mostly destined for export, whereas Canadian organic fruits and vegetables and dairy products are mostly consumed domestically. With the exception of dairy products and a few other products such as breakfast cereal and fruit juice, Canadian companies have been mostly absent from the rapidly growing markets for processed organic foods. The extent to which these markets are currently being penetrated by Canadian organic food manufacturers and the size of the price premiums earned by these companies are worthy of investigation. Very little information exists about market structure and price premiums for processed organic foods sold in North American mass-market retail outlets. Market studies of Canada’s organic food market typically use a previously determined 30 percent price premium estimate for organic foods as a whole, and most studies are silent about specific characteristics of organic food manufacturers. In order for Canadian firms to increase their presence in the market for processed organic foods, more detailed information about market structure and the distribution of price premiums is needed.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,

Global Adoption of Convenience Foods

Trends in the types of foods Americans purchase are evident just by looking around the grocery store. Foods stuffs requiring extensive preparation are being replaced by convenience products that require little time, energy, or preparation. Food companies constantly invest in research and development of new convenience foods to make daily life easier for consumers. The objective of this study is to determine whether the demand for convenience foods is growing around the globe, and if so, to identify the various drivers responsible for the increase in demand. Secondary data were collected for 67 different countries on the quantity and value for four different food types of convenience food: frozen processed foods, chilled processed foods, meal replacement products, and sweet and savory snacks. Data were also found on potential drivers of convenience such as age, income, food budget, etc. All data had 10 years of information (1998 to 2007) and were collected through databases from Euromonitor or the World Bank and analyzed using regression analysis. The three biggest drivers of convenience foods were found to be possession of a color TV, possession of a microwave, and median age of the population.Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Differences in WTP and Consumer Demand for Organic and Non-GM Fresh and Processed Foods

Auction experiments were used to examine demand and premium differences between organic, non-GM (genetically modified), and conventional versions for two pairs of fresh and processed foods. Results showed processed foods had greater substitutability among the versions than fresh products. Conventional versions were the least price sensitive, while non-GM versions were the most sensitive. Significant premium differences were found between fresh and processed foods for sweet corn and tortilla chips, but not for potatoes and potato chips. Results from random effects models mirrored these findings. In general, the extent of premium differences between fresh and processed versions appears dependent on the food product.auction experiments, willingness to pay, organic, non-GM, fresh, processed food, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

Characterisation of UK diets according to degree of food processing and associations with socio-demographics and obesity: cross-sectional analysis of UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-12).

BACKGROUND: Food processing alters food from its natural state for safety, convenience, taste or palatability. Previous research suggests that industrially processed foods, and diets high in these products, tend to be less healthful. However, most previous work is based on household, rather than individual-level, data. Little has been reported on the relationship between processed food consumption and markers of health; or on socio-demographic correlates of processed food consumption. Our objective was to describe: the nutritional content of foods classified according to degree of processing; the nutritional content of diets with different relative intakes of processed foods; the socio-demographic characteristics of individuals with different relative intakes of processed foods; and the association between intake of processed foods and body weight. METHODS: Secondary analysis of data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-12), a large national cross-sectional study of diet. Dietary information was collected using four-day, unweighed, food-diaries. Foods were classified as: unprocessed or minimally processed (MPF; foods with no processing or mostly physical processes applied to single whole foods), processed ingredients (PI; extracted and purified components of single whole foods), or ultra-processed food products (UPF; products produced from industrial combining of MPF and PI). RESULTS: Two thousand one hundred seventy four adults were included. MPF and diets high in these foods, had the most healthful nutritional profile. UPF did not necessarily have the least healthful nutritional profile, but diets high in these foods did. Women, and older adults consumed more energy from MPF, and less from UPF. Those living in lower occupation social class households consumed less energy from MPF, but no more from UPF. Only higher intake of PI was consistently, inversely, associated with body weight. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to explore correlates of processed food consumption, using individual-level data from a large, national sample. Although higher intakes of MPF and lower intakes of UPF were associated with the most healthful dietary profiles, only intake of PI was consistently associated with body weight. Consumption of UPF varied by age and gender, but, unexpectedly, not by occupational social class. Longitudinal work is required to confirm relationships with health markers.This work was undertaken by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UKCRC Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Wellcome Trust, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged. The funders played no role in the design, conduct or interpretation of this research, or the decision to publish.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from BioMed Central via http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-015-0317-

PROCESSED FOOD TRADE AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT UNDER NAFTA

Trade in processed food products is rapidly growing. Trade with Canada and Mexico has especially been growing since free trade agreements have been implemented. The U.S. presence in the processed food industry in other countries through foreign direct investment (FDI) is also large and has been expanding. The relationship between trade and FDI is uncertain and subject to much debate. Japan and Canada are the largest importers of processed foods from the United States, followed by Mexico and Korea. Canada is the leading exporter of food products to the United States, followed by France, Mexico, and Italy. Canada and Mexico have, in recent years, become increasingly important trading partners in processed foods. Results from this study do not conclusively indicate any type of relationship between FDI and trade. Trade in processed foods also appears to be mostly insensitive to the exchange rate. Some of the increase in trade flows can be explained by growth in real GDP. Trade liberalization may also explain the increase in trade flows. Free trade agreements have positively influenced U.S. FDI in Canada and Mexico. Labor cost and inflation in the host country also influences U.S. FDI.trade, processed foods, foreign direct investment, Canada, Mexico, International Relations/Trade,

The EU’s Export Refunds on Processed Foods: Legitimate in the WTO?

Export subsidies on processed foods are an important trade policy instrument for the European Union. GATT Article XVI legitimised the use of export subsidies on primary agricultural products, under certain circumstances, but forbade the use of export subsidies on non-primary products. However it was never satisfactorily resolved whether export subsidies could be paid on the primary agricultural products incorporated into processed products, such as pasta. The Uruguay Round Agreements, and particularly the Agreement on Agriculture (the URAA), apparently legitimised the EU’s practice of paying export subsidies on incorporated agricultural products, at least while the Peace Clause was in force. With the demise of the Peace Clause the question arises whether GATT Article XVI has any residual force, given that the range of primary agricultural products exempted by Article XVI from the ban on export subsidies is narrower than the list of agricultural products covered by the URAA.International Relations/Trade,

Supermarket purchases and the dietary patterns of households in Guatemala:

"Very limited empirical analyses are done on evaluating how changes in the retail environment affect diet and health status of consumers, especially in developing countries. The major objective of this study is to shed some light on some of these neglected but crucial issues. The study examines the impact of supermarket purchases on dietary practices (defined as the calorie share of different food groups) of Guatemalan households using the 2000 Guatemalan household survey. I use an instrumental variable method to take into account the potential endogeneity of the supermarket-purchase variable in the calorie share equations.... The results of the study reveal that supermarket purchases increase the share that highly and partially processed food items, such as pastries, cookies, crackers, chocolate, ice cream, and so forth, make of total calories, at the expense of staple food items such as corn and beans. Since most processed foods contain disproportionately high amounts of added fat, sugar, and salt, and since supermarkets are expanding rapidly, different policy measures should be developed to ensure that supermarkets have a "healthier" impact on diets." from Authors' AbstractSupermarkets, Health and nutrition, Calorie share, Diet quality, Staple foods, Household behavior, Processed foods, Energy dense foods, Energy dilute foods, Instrumental variable method,