October 3, 2024
Reducing Demand for Unhealthy Food
GHAI works with civil society organizations to promote and protect mandatory policies that reduce the consumption of ultra-processed products. We support advocacy efforts to:
- Enact taxes on sugary drinks and unhealthy foods.
- Implement mandatory front of package warning labels to help consumers identify unhealthy food.
- Ban marketing and availability of unhealthy food and beverages in schools to ensure healthy food environments.
- Restrict marketing of unhealthy food and beverages.
- Eliminate industrially produced trans fatty acids from the food supply.
- Regulate sodium content in manufactured food.
To date we have supported the passage of 22 national food and nutrition policies in 15 countries.
Where We Work
- Current:
- Argentina,
- Bangladesh,
- Barbados,
- Botswana,
- Brazil,
- China,
- Colombia,
- Costa Rica,
- El Salvador,
- Ethiopia,
- Gambia,
- Ghana,
- Guatemala,
- India,
- Indonesia,
- Jamaica,
- Kazakhstan,
- Kenya,
- Nigeria,
- St. Kitts and Nevis,
- Pakistan,
- Philippines,
- Rwanda,
- South Africa,
- Tanzania,
- Uganda,
- Vietnam,
- Zambia
- Past:
- Turkey,
- Uruguay
Our Impact
Elimination of Trans fats
Together with our partners, GHAI has helped pass best-practice trans fat restrictions in Argentina, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Philippines and Turkey.
Taxation of Sugary Drinks and Junk Food
GHAI has supported advocacy campaigns to pass or increase taxes on sugary drinks or ultra-processed products in Colombia, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa. The South Africa tax, implemented in 2018, has already demonstrated decreases in consumption of these unhealthy drinks.
Front of Package Warning Labels
We’ve worked with partners in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay to pass mandatory front of package warning labels to help consumers easily identify unhealthy food and drinks and make healthier choices.
School Food Policies
We’ve partnered with advocates to remove ultra-processed food and sugary drinks from schools in Argentina, Barbados and Brazil. At the subnational level, GHAI has also supported successful campaigns in Neteroi, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
Program Resources
Profile
Advocacy Resources
Recent News
View All NewsRelated Case Studies
View All Case StudiesSweetened Beverage Taxes: Lessons from a Decade of Progress
Locally-led advocacy campaigns supported by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) have contributed to the adoption and strengthening of sweetened beverage (SB) taxes in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and South Asia. The lessons learned from these campaigns are being applied by advocates around the world to counter the threat caused by SBs in their countries and generate new government revenues.
Trans Fat Elimination in the Philippines
The Philippines mandated the elimination of industrially produced trans fat from its food supply – a policy supported by local civil society advocates working in partnership with the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).
Protecting Heart Health in Brazil
Brazil approved strict limits on trans fat in food following strategic advocacy led by local civil society organizations supported by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).