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Program

Reducing Demand for Unhealthy Food

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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
See the Map
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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. 

Advocacy Resources

Discover GHAI resources that address food policy and nutrition topics including: Front of Package Warning Labels, Marketing Restrictions, Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes, Trans Fatty Acids Elimination, and more.
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Related Case Studies

View All Case Studies
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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).

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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).

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Protecting Heart Health in India

India is in the midst of a public health crisis fueled by an influx of ultra-processed foods and rise of lifestyle diseases. The country approved strict limits on a particularly harmful food component, trans fat, following strategic advocacy by a coalition of partners support by GHAI.