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  1. Processed foods and the nutrition transition: evidence from Asia
    Baker P, Friel S
    Obes Rev, 2014 Jul;15(7):564-77.
    PMID: 24735161 DOI: 10.1111/obr.12174
    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.
  2. Toxic trade: the impact of preferential trade agreements on alcohol imports from Australia in partner countries
    Schram A, Aisbett E, Townsend B, Labonté R, Baum F, Friel S
    Addiction, 2020 07;115(7):1277-1284.
    PMID: 31808205 DOI: 10.1111/add.14925
    BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Trade liberalization is hypothesized to increase the availability of imported alcoholic beverages in importing countries. This study provides the first longitudinal analysis of the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on alcohol imports.

    DESIGN: Panel data comprising alcohol-product (n = 15) by importing country (n = 16) observations from 1988 to 2016 constructed from global databases. The relationship between PTA status, tariff level and alcohol imports were assessed using a log-linear model. Unobserved heterogeneity was addressed through a combination of differencing and product-year fixed-effects.

    SETTING: Australia and its 16 free trade partners (PTA year in parentheses), classified by low [ 50%: Chile (2009), China (2015), Japan (2015), Korea (2014), Laos (2010), New Zealand (1983, 2010), Philippines (2010), Singapore (2003, 2010) and United States (2005)] percentage of alcohol consumers in the population.

    MEASUREMENTS: Independent variables were the existence of a PTA with Australia and tariff (border tax) rate on Australian products. Outcomes were (log) Australian imports; and a binary indicator of any imports from Australia.

    FINDINGS: Introducing a PTA has been associated with a statistically significant increase in the share of Australian alcoholic beverage imports in its partner country's total alcoholic beverage import supply, mainly from trade in new alcoholic beverage categories (0.067, P 

  3. Fulltext A new generation of trade policy: potential risks to diet-related health from the trans pacific partnership agreement
    Friel S, Gleeson D, Thow AM, Labonte R, Stuckler D, Kay A, et al.
    Global Health, 2013 Oct 16;9:46.
    PMID: 24131595 DOI: 10.1186/1744-8603-9-46
    Trade poses risks and opportunities to public health nutrition. This paper discusses the potential food-related public health risks of a radical new kind of trade agreement: the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). Under negotiation since 2010, the TPP involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the USA, and Vietnam. Here, we review the international evidence on the relationships between trade agreements and diet-related health and, where available, documents and leaked text from the TPP negotiations. Similar to other recent bilateral or regional trade agreements, we find that the TPP would propose tariffs reductions, foreign investment liberalisation and intellectual property protection that extend beyond provisions in the multilateral World Trade Organization agreements. The TPP is also likely to include strong investor protections, introducing major changes to domestic regulatory regimes to enable greater industry involvement in policy making and new avenues for appeal. Transnational food corporations would be able to sue governments if they try to introduce health policies that food companies claim violate their privileges in the TPP; even the potential threat of litigation could greatly curb governments' ability to protect public health. Hence, we find that the TPP, emblematic of a new generation of 21st century trade policy, could potentially yield greater risks to health than prior trade agreements. Because the text of the TPP is secret until the countries involved commit to the agreement, it is essential for public health concerns to be articulated during the negotiation process. Unless the potential health consequences of each part of the text are fully examined and taken into account, and binding language is incorporated in the TPP to safeguard regulatory policy space for health, the TPP could be detrimental to public health nutrition. Health advocates and health-related policymakers must be proactive in their engagement with the trade negotiations.
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