A/71/282 markets with cheap refined grains, corn sweeteners and vegetable oil, FDI has become a driving force behind rising obesity rates in developing countries. 32 E. Aggressive marketing 32. The level and effect of investment by the food industry in the marketing of unhealthy food products is startling. Persistent advertising campaigns, discount offers, exclusive contracts with food outlets and pricing and packaging strategies are all used to drive demand. 33. “Junk food” companies tend to use tactics similar to those used by tobacco companies in the 1980s, when science began linking smoking to serious health problems. Some companies even fund scientific research, manipulating results in support of their products, or add minimal amounts of healthy ingredients to enable them to present their products as “healthy”. 34. Marketing strategies are particularly harmful when they target untapped markets in developing nations, a spillover from the “saturation” of markets in developed countries. The effect of introducing fast food on the diet quality of poorer populations is especially dangerous when there is a lack of knowledge or education and where individuals are vulnerable to manipulative marketing practi ces. 33 If left uncontrolled, undernutrition in lower-income countries will be rapidly eclipsed by obesity and non-communicable diseases, as is already the case in China, India and many middle-income countries. 23 F. Product-based approaches to malnutrition 35. Nutrition policies should be multidimensional and avoid promoting isolated interventions to fight malnutrition, including “medicalized” and product-based approaches focusing on ready-to-use therapeutic foods. Such measures have been criticized as unsustainable “technical” solutions to social problems. Fortified foods are often too expensive for or unavailable to those most affected by micronutrient deficiencies. Such initiatives can also undermine dietary diversity, have a negative impact on healthy eating practices and adversely affect small -scale local producers by moving away from culturally appropriate, affordable and sustainable food sources. Excessive reliance on product-based solutions, for example nutrient pills and other methods of food fortification, also has adverse health implications, especially if they are highly processed. Even biofortification, which seeks to deliver __________________ 32 33 10/24 Ibid., paras. 6-8; Corinna Hawkes, Delia Grace and Anne Marie Thow, “Trade liberalization, food, nutrition and health”, in Trade and Health: Towards Building a National Strategy, Richard Smith and others, eds. (Geneva, WHO, 2015); Anna K. Sims, “Obesity prevention: assessing the role of State and non-State actors under international law”, Chicago Journal of International Law, vol. 16, No. 1 (summer 2015); Anne Marie Thow and Benn McGrady, “Protecting policy space for public health nutrition in an era of international investment agreements ”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 92, No. 2 (February 2014); Corinna Hawkes, “The role of foreign direct investment in the nutrition transition”, Public Health Nutrition, vol. 8, No. 4 (June 2005); FAO, “Globalization of food systems in developing countries: impact on food security and nutrition”, FAO Food and Nutrition Paper No. 83 (Rome, 2004). Judith Hodge, The Future of Global Relations: Food Fortification — A “Techno-Fix” or a Sustainable Solution to Fight Hidden Hunger? (Bonn, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes Deutschland, 2014); A/HRC/26/31, para. 10. 16-13441