What is Corporate Capture?
Corporate capture is the process by which regulatory and government agencies are influenced or controlled by the corporations they are supposed to regulate. As a result, these agencies become biased toward corporate interests, shaping regulations that protect business interests and prioritising profit over the interests of the public.
How Corporate Capture Works in the Food Industry
Corporate capture occurs in the food industry when large food companies influence government bodies and regulators like Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) or the Heart Foundation through lobbying, financial incentives, and even staffing exchanges. These food companies work to shape policies that regulate food safety, dietary guidelines, and public health recommendations, often in ways that downplay the health risks of processed foods, sugar, and additives.
The mechanism of corporate capture typically involves lobbying, a revolving door and industry-funded research. Here's how each of those works.
Lobbying
Large food corporations spend millions lobbying government officials to influence policies that regulate food products, labelling, and advertising.
A Revolving Door
Key figures move between roles in the government and the food industry, ensuring that regulations are written in ways that benefit large corporations.
Industry-funded Research
The food industry often funds research that influences public health recommendations, leading to biased results favouring processed and unhealthy foods.
Corporate Capture is Corruption
Let's be clear from the outset: corporate capture is a byword for corruption.
Corruption is defined as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain", and in this sense, corporate capture is a textbook example — subverting the intended role of government and regulatory agencies, resulting in the following:
- Manipulation of public policy
- Conflicts of interest
- Reduced accountability
How Corporate Capture Affects the Food Industry
In Australia, corporate capture within the food industry has played a vital role in shaping dietary guidelines (like the food pyramid), food labelling systems (like the Health Star rating system) and agricultural subsidies. All such initiatives and regulations have been designed to benefit the food industry at the expense of public health, and have contributed to (if not directly resulted in) the rise of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Examples of Corporate Capture and Corruption in the Food Industry
There are endless examples highlighting corporate capture in the food industry; however, here are some of the most notable occurring in, or affecting, the food industry and nutrition guidelines in Australia.
1 - The Food Pyramid
In the 1980s, the Australian government promoted the "Food Pyramid", which was meant to provide the Australian public with a dietary framework for optimal health. However, the dietary advice promoted by the food pyramid was not solely based on independent scientific research but was heavily influenced by corporate lobbying — particularly from the grain, wheat, and sugar industries.
As a result, the food pyramid placed a heavy emphasis on carbohydrates, recommending that they form the base of a healthy diet. It promoted the consumption of up to six servings of bread, cereals, and other grain-based foods per day while advising the public to limit the consumption of healthy fats, proteins and oils. Naturally, this was tremendously profitable for the grain, wheat and sugar industries, which all benefited from the increased demand for their commodities. Public health, however, suffered a steep decline.
Even after science contravened carbohydrate-rich diets like the one promoted by the food pyramid, lobbying from the sugar industry and grain producers helped keep these recommendations in place despite science supporting lower-carbohydrate, nutrient-dense whole-food diets.
3 - The Health Star Rating (HSR) System
The Health Star Rating System was introduced to help Australians make healthier food choices; however, simple side-by-side comparisons of different foods reveal that it has been manipulated by food manufacturers and industry, rendering it a total farce. As we've spoken about in our previous article, highly processed foods like margarine, which contain additives and trans fats, often receive higher ratings than natural alternatives like butter. Similarly, breakfast cereals high in sugar but fortified with vitamins receive high star ratings, while whole foods like eggs score lower.
In addition to corporate capture, the system or algorithm used to assign ratings is susceptible to being gamified by large manufacturers, who alter their products to meet specific criteria (such as reducing sodium or adding fibre), artificially boosting their star ratings.
4 - Agricultural Subsidies Favouring Commodity Crops
In Australia, agricultural subsidies (provided by the government) primarily support large-scale commodity crops like wheat, sugar and canola, which are used extensively in processed foods. These crops benefit from government funding, which keeps their production costs low and allows food manufacturers to produce cheap, highly processed foods. Meanwhile, organic and whole food producers receive little to no government support, making healthier, less-processed options more expensive and less accessible to the average consumer. This skewed system promotes the consumption of processed foods that contribute to chronic disease while healthier options remain financially out of reach.
5 - The Heart Tick Controversy: McDonald's Partnership
One of the clearest examples of corporate influence over health policy occurred when McDonald's was awarded the Heart Foundation's "Tick of Approval" for some of its menu items. McDonald's, a fast-food chain synonymous with unhealthy eating, was able to market certain products like salads and lean beef burgers as heart-healthy simply by tweaking ingredients and paying a licensing fee.
How Corporate Capture Impacts Health
Unsurprisingly, corporate capture (aka corruption) in the food industry has led to a decline in health — measured by a meteoric rise in chronic disease, obesity and diabetes rates. The statistics below offer a snapshot of the effects that corporate capture within the food industry has had on public health.
Chronic Disease
In the 1960s, only 6% of Australians suffered from chronic diseases. Today, that number is closer to 60% - which is an order of magnitude increase in chronic illness in only 60 years. This cannot be understated, nor can the role that diet (influenced by corporate capture) plays in this alarming increase.
Obesity
In the 1960s, fewer than 5% of adults were classified as obese. By the 1990s, this number had risen to 19%, and currently, nearly 32% of adults are obese, while 67% are overweight or obese. Curiously, the sharpest acceleration in obesity rates was from the 1980s to the 1990s — right after the food pyramid was introduced.
Diabetes
Diabetes data before the 1980s is scarce. In the 1980s, 1-2% of the Australian population suffered diabetes. In the 1990s, 3-4% of the population had diabetes, and today, approximately 5.3% of Australians suffer from diabetes, with many more suspected of living undiagnosed. As with obesity, the sharpest increase in the diabetes rate occurred after the introduction of the government-prescribed food pyramid.
A Reality Check: What This Means For You
This is all to say that the truth is often obfuscated when it comes to health. Government advice can seldom be trusted, as it is too often shaped by the interests of big business.
Unfortunately, we're doubtful that much will change when it comes to the influence big business exerts over policy-making and nutritional advice. So, the best advice we can give is for you to adopt a first principles approach and tend towards a diet that meets these rough criteria:
- High in protein
- High in healthy fats
- Low in refined carbohydrates
- Low in sugar
- Free from artificial ingredients
This approximates an ancestral diet — comprised of foods that have sustained human health since the dawn of time. As we've pointed out in a previous article, human health seems to thrive on this diet (with minimal incidence of chronic disease), while it tends to decay the further and longer we shift away from this diet.
Escaping Corporate Capture: What Diet is Best For You
While adhering to the tenets of an ancestral diet will lead to greater health for most, some (especially the ill) require more specific nutritional intake. In this instance, the only way to accurately determine the optimal macronutrient intake is by blood chemistry analysis, which we offer under our tailored health programs.
To learn more about our tailored health programs and nutritional advice, click here.
