Misleading and abusive marketing of ultra-processed products and consumer protection: lessons from civil society experiences in Brazil and the call for more South-South exchanges with Caribbean countries

• Author: Leonardo Ferreira Pillon, Igor Rodrigues Britto, Laís Amaral Mais, Mariana Ribeiro, Carolina Gama França, Mariana Gondo dos Santos
• Pages: 135-160

Misleading and abusive marketing of ultra-processed

products and consumer protection: lessons from civil

society experiences in Brazil and the call for more

South-South exchanges with Caribbean countries

Leonardo Ferreira Pillon,1 Igor Rodrigues Britto,2 Laís Amaral Mais,3

Mariana Ribeiro,4 Carolina Gama França5 & Mariana Gondo dos Santos6

Abstract

Despite Brazil’s strong legal framework, multiple corporations nd ways to

circumvent laws and regulations in order to market their ultra-processed products,

which are high in fat, sugar and/or sodium, including through food labels and

health and nutrition claims. This paper aims to analyse how strategic litigation

can create awareness about industry tactics and galvanize support for government

regulatory measures. It also presents lessons from a civil society perspective on how

to monitor marketing within the food environment, highlighting the need for more

exchange between the Brazilian and Caribbean social movements and civil society

organisations to stand up against corporate political activities undermining public

policies on healthy food.

Keywords

Misleading marketing; Strategic litigation; Consumer protection; Ultra-processed

products.

1 Counselor, Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense (IDEC), Healthy and Sustainable Food

Program Advisory Team. Email: leonardo.pillon@idec.org.br.

2 Director, Institutional Relations, Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense (IDEC) and Professor

of Consumer Law and Business Law, the IESB University Center, Brasília. Email: igor.britto@

idec.org.br .

3 Coordinator, Healthy and Sustainable Food Program, Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense

(IDEC).

4 Research Analyst, Healthy and Sustainable Food Program, Brazilian Institute for Consumer

Defense (IDEC).

5 Resident in Sanitary Surveillance, Municipal Institute of Sanitary Surveillance, Zoonoses

Surveillance and Agricultural Inspection of Rio de Janeiro (IVISA-Rio) and Master’s student,

Postgraduate Program in Food Science, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

6 Former Senior Lawyer, Healthy and Sustainable Food Program, Brazilian Institute for Consumer

Defense (IDEC).

135 Misleading and abusive marketing of ultra-processed products and consumer protection:

lessons from civil society experiences in Brazil and the call for more South-South exchanges

with Caribbean countries

1. The World Health Organization’s call to empower

consumer protection by restricting the marketing of ultra-

processed products

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive

Medicine, the consumption of ultra-processed products (UPPs) was responsible for

approximately 57,000 premature deaths in Brazil.7 For the purpose of this article,

UPPs are considered to be:

“[designed as] ready-to-eat, ready-to-drink, or ready-to-heat, mostly as

snacks, which are liable to displace unprocessed or minimally processed

foods and freshly prepared dishes and meals. Ultra-processed products

typically have minimal content of whole foods and use additives to obtain

food-like colo[u]r, texture, avo[u]r and hyper-palatability, plus complex

combinations of salt, sugar and salt, and sophisticated and attractive

branding, packaging, multimedia and other intensive marketing to children

and adolescents. Many make health claims. They are highly protable, and

leading products are owned by transnational corporations.”8

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) states that around “44% of

deaths in the Americas are caused by high blood pressure, high sugar levels, and

obesity and overweight” and unhealthy diets are one of the causes of this situation.

9

In response, PAHO recommends a series of policies, among which the regulation

of UPPs through front-of-package warning labelling (FOPWL) and marketing

restrictions.10

In particular, marketing restrictions can play a complementary role to FOPWL,

often grounded on consumer protection. Recently, the World Health Organization

(WHO) published a new guideline which states that “children of all ages should be

protected from the marketing of foods that are high in saturated fatty acids, trans-fatty

7 Eduardo A.F. Nilson, Gerson Ferrari, Maria Laura C. Louzada, Renata B. Levy, Carlos A. Monteiro,

Leandro F.M. Rezende, ‘Premature Deaths Attributable to the Consumption of Ultraprocessed

Foods in Brazil’, Global Health Promotion and Prevention| Vol. 64, 1, p. 129-136, jan/2023.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.08.013.

8 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Ultra-processed food and drink products in Latin

America: Sales, sources, nutrient proles, and policy implications. Washington, D.C.: PAHO;

2019. <https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/51094> Accessed 12 May, 2023.

9 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Front-of-package labeling <https://www.paho.

org/en/topics/front-package-labeling> Accessed 12 May, 2023.

10 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Ultra-processed food and drink products in Latin

America: Sales, sources, nutrient proles, and policy implications. Washington, D.C.: PAHO;

2019. <https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/51094> Accessed 12 May, 2023.