Insufficient countervailing checks to oligopoly in food supply chains
The majority of what most people eat is driven increasingly by the production and distribution decisions of a few multinational food companies, whose oligopolistic interest are not necessarily aligned with the public health interest. Successive governments have failed to establish sufficient countervailing public policy measures to ensure that, where these interests are not aligned, the oligopolistic interests of the companies don't impact negatively on public health.
Background on the oligopoly in the global food system: [2]
- In the United States, the ten largest food companies control over half of all food sales [4] and worldwide this proportion is about 15% and rising.
- More than half of global soft drinks are produced by large multinational companies, mainly Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. [5] Three-fourths of world food sales involve processed foods, for which the largest manufacturers hold over a third of the global market.
- Big Food is a driving force behind the global rise in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and processed foods enriched in salt, sugar, and fat. [5]