Systematic examination of publiclyavailable information reveals the diverse and extensive corporate political activity of the food industry in Australia

Abstract
Background
The political influence of the food industry, referred to as
corporate political activity (CPA), represents a potential barrier to the
development and implementation of effective public health policies for
non-communicable diseases prevention. This paper reports on the feasibility and
limitations of using publicly-available information to identify and monitor the
CPA of the food industry in Australia.

Methods
A systematic search was conducted for information from food
industry, government and other publicly-available data sources in Australia. Data
was collected in relation to five key food industry actors: the Australian Food
and Grocery Council; Coca Cola; McDonald’s; Nestle; and Woolworths, for the period
January 2012 to February 2015. Data analysis was guided by an existing framework
for classifying CPA strategies of the food industry.

Results
The selected food industry actors used multiple CPA strategies, with
‘information and messaging’ and ‘constituency building’ strategies most
prominent.

Conclusions
The systematic analysis of publicly-available information over a
limited period was able to identify diverse and extensive CPA strategies of the
food industry in Australia. This approach can contribute to accountability
mechanisms for NCD prevention.