A discussion of stronger public policies to protect and promote healthy diets: what can the U.S. learn from other countries?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to contribute to global discussion on public health policies for protecting and promoting healthy diets, as it is advancing in the U.S. This discussion assesses specific cases of successful policy making from several countries across the world, often against industry resistance. We discuss five key public policies and interventions: i) food labeling; ii) marketing restrictions and healthy school food policies; iii) fiscal policies; iv)  models for classifying the (un)healthiness of a product; v) interventions to address food industry influence and conflicts of interest in public health policy. The paper also argues how the U.S can adapt or adopt some of these public policies, while also preparing for the challenges from the ultra-processed food industry that may perceive these advances as threats to its business. We conclude the discussion by postulating that the U.S. is primed to advance several of these initiatives that have already been espoused in law and evaluated to be effective in other countries. The U.S. will have unique challenges, as many of the food industry actors have deep political influence on American politics and markets, although these global lessons can enable the legislative, policy, and civil society ecosystems with additional tools and strategies to progress policy movement toward defending people’s health and wellbeing over industry’s influence and profit.