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Effective and full implementation of the right to health framework, including justiciability of ESCR and the right to health; the progressive realisation of the right to health; the accountability deficit of transnational corporations; and the current ... 2014, para. 36
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- Globalization and trade liberalization have allowed transnational corporations to gain greater and easier access to otherwise closed markets. Their increasing presence in the world economy has enabled them to influence international and domestic law-making and infringe upon States' policy space. They have influenced food consumption patterns and promoted the use of tobacco, especially in developing countries. They have also affected the rights of large communities with impunity, causing displacement, contamination of groundwater and loss of livelihood. They have directly perpetrated serious human rights violations, in particular in developing and least developed countries. They have thus seriously affected the laws, policies and social and economic environments of States and have violated the economic, social and cultural rights of individuals and communities, including the right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
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The right to health and development 2011, para. 19c
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- [As the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has clarified, States have a core minimum obligation to ensure the satisfaction of minimum essential levels of the right to health under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), including:] Access to the minimum essential food which is nutritionally adequate and safe;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
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Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 5
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- The policies of globalization have played an important role in increasing the free flow of unhealthy foods between countries. Changes in the food system are now largely driven by transnational corporations (TNCs), including food and beverage companies and supermarket chains, which have altered diets from traditional and minimally processed foods to ultraprocessed ones. In fact, 75 per cent of the world's food sales constitute processed foods, whose largest manufacturers control more than one third of the global market. TNCs have therefore been a critical link in the transition from minimally processed to ultraprocessed foods. They also greatly influence the sale and consumption of unhealthy foods in comparison to promoting the availability and affordability of healthy foods within the food system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 7
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- The 1980s "structural adjustment programmes" of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank compelled developing countries to open up their markets, including the food sector, to foreign trade as a part of loan fulfilling conditions. Agreements negotiated at the World Trade Organization sought further market integration by reducing tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade, curtailing export subsidies and removing protections of domestic industry to promote the freer flow of goods and services. These policies were implemented as a means of increasing the efficiency of the food system in producing the foods that people needed and wanted, but they had significant effects on the types of available foods and their costs. As a result, there has been a drastic increase in production of certain products relative to others. For example, there was a substantial increase in the global production of vegetable oils such as partially hydrogenated soybean oil, a source of trans-fats, and palm oil, a source of saturated fats. Similarly, grains such as corn are produced in larger quantities to cater to the food processing industry to produce sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup, substantially increasing global calorie consumption from such sweeteners (A/HRC/19/59, pp. 13-14). Studies show that countries adopting market deregulation policies experience a faster increase in unhealthy food consumption and mean body mass index, an indicator of obesity. In furthering the goals of market expansion and profits, critical focus areas of health such as diets and nutrition have not been given due consideration.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 9
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- Supermarkets and large food chains have largely replaced fresh food markets as a major source of food supply in most countries, and at a faster rate in developing than developed countries. Supermarkets based in North America and Europe have invested heavily in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. Supermarkets are now the primary food retailers in Latin America. In one country, approximately three quarters of the FDI flows towards highly-processed foods like soft drinks, snacks and mayonnaise.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 10
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- Global food promotion, marketing and advertising are closely linked with globalization, leading to dietary transitions towards unhealthy foods. The aim of food marketing is to increase demand for products by making people develop the habit of consuming the product regularly. Aggressive expansionist strategies pursued by TNCs in emerging economies over the last few decades have increased the visibility and familiarity of global food brands, which are then leveraged to increase consumption of these products. Specific marketing tools are used to increase consumption by ensuring the presence of global food brands in as many places as possible at affordable prices, while expanding the variety of their products to suit local tastes and purchasing capacities. In order to cater to some rural areas and low-income populations, soft drink companies have invested in smaller bottles at lower prices to create acceptability of the product. In other places, portion sizes are increased to encourage greater consumption. At an individual level, increased purchasing power and the convenience of ready-to-eat products promote the consumption of unhealthy foods. At a population level, the aggressive and systematic marketing strategies used by TNCs fuel this demand.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 11
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- The food industry spends billions of dollars on persistent and pervasive promotion and marketing of unhealthy foods. TNCs often enter into exclusive contracts with fast food outlets to sell their foods. Varied pricing strategies are used as a mechanism to elicit demand for unhealthy products. Supermarkets have also been found to provide more price discounts for unhealthy foods compared to healthy foods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 12
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- With respect to the availability and accessibility of nutritionally adequate and safe food, both the right to health and the right to food cast obligations on States. Under the right to health framework, States have a core and non-derogable obligation to ensure access to the minimum essential food that is nutritionally adequate to ensure freedom from hunger for everyone. Pertinently, the right to food framework requires States to ensure the availability and accessibility of food in a quantity and quality to satisfy the individuals' dietary needs, and which contain a mix of nutrients for physical and mental growth, development and maintenance, and physical activity that are in compliance with human physiological needs at all stages of life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 15
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- States also have the obligation to protect people from violations of their right to health from activities of non-State actors, including private food corporations. For instance, States should make sure that advertisements and promotion by food corporations convey accurate and easily understandable information on possible ill effects of their food products. This is important, as withholding or misrepresenting such information is likely to affect people's diet choices, which impacts on the right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 19
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- To reduce the intake of unhealthy foods, States should adopt policies to create disincentives for consuming them. For instance, some States have levied a consumption tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to curb the obesity epidemic, with the revenue raised from sales to be spent on providing drinking water. However, merely increasing the price of unhealthy foods may have a punitive effect on low-income groups. Reducing the price of nutritious food to levels cheaper than or comparable to unhealthy foods would make healthy foods more affordable. For instance, agricultural subsidies benefiting unhealthy foods could be removed and shifted to subsidies for increasing the production of healthier foods. States could take measures, such as tax benefits and focused investments in agricultural production, to incentivize farmers to produce healthier foods like vegetables and fruits (A/HRC/19/59).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 21
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- Accessibility of healthy foods may not necessarily lead to their higher intake. Even though foods with high nutrition value may be available in areas and spaces alongside less nutritious foodstuffs, consumers may not be attracted to the healthier option based on various factors such as perceived palatability or lack of visibility of healthier options and their benefits. Retail stores and supermarket chains may stock healthy foods, but lesser shelf-space may be allocated to them or they may be placed at the back of the store. This would have a negative effect on consumption patterns in favour of healthier foods. To rectify this, States could urge and require retailers to arrange their products in ways that would attract the consumer to healthier options. States could also promote healthier foods through media and social channels traditionally used by food and beverage companies, from television to Internet advertisements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 31
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- As the food industry plays a key role in the global food environment and is recognized as the primary driver of diet-related NCDs, it has a distinct responsibility to take steps to realize the right to health. While many challenges facing the food system, like environmental pressures such as draughts and floods, are out of the control of the food industry, there are several areas where it can make a positive impact on health by investing in and influencing healthier food choices. To this end, the industry should consider adopting standards to improve the nutritional quality of foods through product reformulation and to improve labelling and information on their products to contribute to healthier diets. The food industry should also invest in research to improve the nutritional content of their products rather than investing in increasing the marketability of existing products. Furthermore, supermarkets and fast food restaurants should take steps to market and promote healthier options. For example, in addition to providing calorie content of meals on menu cards, fast food restaurants should adopt appropriate nutrient profiling models that indicate the nutritional composition of the foods available.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 32
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- In furthering their responsibility to respect the right to health, the food industry should ensure the transparency of nutritional information and composition, an area where thus far the efforts of the food industry have been woefully lacking. The food industry should take concrete steps to ensure that consumers have sufficient nutritional information about their products to aid and promote more responsible dietary decisions. Moreover, creating and implementing mechanisms that promote disclosures of conflicts of interest within their governance structures can contribute towards efforts to ensure transparency of the operations of the food industry. This is of particular relevance where global health funders, who are also non-State actors, are shareholders or sit on the governance boards of the food industry or vice versa.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 44
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- Low-income persons may also be more likely to live in "food deserts", where healthy fresh food options are lacking, or in "food swamps", where there is significantly greater presence of unhealthy foods and unhealthy food marketing. Healthy foods are frequently less available, of lower quality and attractiveness, or more expensive in low-income areas. Conversely, lower-income areas can have up to two and a half times as many fast food stores as higher-income areas. These problems are likely to be compounded by geographical barriers for remote rural communities, poorly served urban slums or where transport between lower-income and higher-income areas is poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 45
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- Poor diets tend to have greater consequences for low-income persons than for other groups. Undernutrition early in life may lead to a greater probability of obesity later in life due to a "feast or famine" response that causes the body to hoard fat when it is available. This combination of lack of food security or hunger with the ready availability of calorie-dense junk foods places many low-income communities at particular risk of NCDs, compared to higher-income groups. Psychosocial factors such as stress, higher incidences of other NCD risk factors and less access to preventive care can also increase risks of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension among low-income groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 46
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- In combating NCDs, States should therefore ensure that they comprehensively address socioeconomic disparities. They should ensure that food security or poverty reduction plans adequately address the need for healthier food options. They could do so, for example, by increasing availability of fruits and vegetables under food security schemes, incentivizing food retailers to stock healthy foods in low-income neighbourhoods or improving public transport to areas where healthy foods are available. In particular, social programmes aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security can be a useful tool for improving health, if they are sufficiently funded to allow for the purchase of healthy options and are combined with appropriate measures to provide nutrition education and make healthy foods available and accessible to those receiving benefits. Finally, States should work to eliminate inequities in access to primary and preventive care, to lessen the disproportionate effects of unhealthy foods on low-income communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 50
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- States have an obligation to make legislative, judicial and administrative mechanisms available, accessible and effective to enable people to hold States and non-State actors accountable and claim remedies for violations of their right to health. Omission by States to legislate and enforce regulatory frameworks with respect to the food industry may in itself be a violation of the right to health. For instance, if the State fails to put into place laws requiring the provision and dissemination of information, people may not be in a position to make informed choices about their diet, which may prevent them from realizing their highest attainable standard of health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 53
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- Accountability can also be ensured through indicators, benchmarks and targets against which the performance of State and non-State actors in achieving goals to reduce risk and prevalence of NCDs can be monitored and evaluated. As multiple agencies of the State may be involved in regulating activities of the food industry and the provision of nutritious food, information outlining their individual and joint efforts towards attaining the set benchmarks should be made public. Making information available to the public and independent monitoring bodies will enable them to assess the activities of the food industry and their compliance with domestic marketing, labelling and nutrition standards and laws. States should also encourage monitoring of other non-State actors such as private schools and broadcasting agencies to review their policy vis-à-vis the food industry. Review and evaluation of actions taken and standards adopted by States and non-State actors to ensure the sale and availability of nutritious foods comprise the accountability framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 61
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- An effective international framework is needed to hold the global food industry legally accountable for its actions. There is a need to create an international framework that binds States and casts responsibility on them to modify their domestic laws for reduction and prevention of diet-related NCDs. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control could be used as a foundation on which an international framework for accountability and monitoring of the food and beverage industry can be built. The international community also needs to ensure that food corporations driven by commercial interests do not undermine the efforts of States to realize the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 64a
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- [With a view to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to health, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States take the following steps:] Increase availability and accessibility of healthier food alternatives through fiscal and agricultural policies that discourage production of unhealthy foods. Also take measures to incentivize farmers to grow healthier products;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unhealthy foods, non-communicable diseases and the right to health 2014, para. 67b
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- [With a view to making accountability and remedial mechanisms available and accessible to victims of violations, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States take the following steps:] Encourage and promote independent monitoring of activities of the State and the food industry. Urge participation of affected people and local communities in monitoring such activities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
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21 shown of 21 entities