A/HRC/26/31 developed countries.27 Supermarkets based in North America and Europe have invested heavily in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. Supermarkets are now the primary food retailers in Latin America.28 In one country, approximately three quarters of the FDI flows towards highly-processed foods like soft drinks, snacks and mayonnaise.29 III. Promotion and marketing of unhealthy foods 10. Global food promotion, marketing and advertising are closely linked with globalization, leading to dietary transitions towards unhealthy foods. The aim of food marketing is to increase demand for products by making people develop the habit of consuming the product regularly. Aggressive expansionist strategies pursued by TNCs in emerging economies over the last few decades have increased the visibility and familiarity of global food brands, which are then leveraged to increase consumption of these products. Specific marketing tools are used to increase consumption by ensuring the presence of global food brands in as many places as possible at affordable prices, while expanding the variety of their products to suit local tastes and purchasing capacities. In order to cater to some rural areas and low-income populations, soft drink companies have invested in smaller bottles at lower prices to create acceptability of the product. In other places, portion sizes are increased to encourage greater consumption.30 At an individual level, increased purchasing power and the convenience of ready-to-eat products promote the consumption of unhealthy foods. At a population level, the aggressive and systematic marketing strategies used by TNCs fuel this demand.31 11. The food industry spends billions of dollars on persistent and pervasive promotion and marketing of unhealthy foods. TNCs often enter into exclusive contracts with fast food outlets to sell their foods. Varied pricing strategies are used as a mechanism to elicit demand for unhealthy products. Supermarkets have also been found to provide more price discounts for unhealthy foods compared to healthy foods.32 IV. State obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to health 12. With respect to the availability and accessibility of nutritionally adequate and safe food, both the right to health and the right to food cast obligations on States. Under the right to health framework, States have a core and non-derogable obligation to ensure access to the minimum essential food that is nutritionally adequate to ensure freedom from hunger for everyone. Pertinently, the right to food framework requires States to ensure the availability and accessibility of food in a quantity and quality to satisfy the individuals’ 27 28 29 30 31 32 Abay Asfaw, “Supermarket purchases and the dietary patterns of households in Guatemala”, IFPRI Discussion Paper 00696 (Washington D.C., International Food Policy Research Institute, 2007), p. 1. Ronald Labonté et al., “Framing international trade and chronic disease”, Globalization and Health, vol. 7, No. 21 (2011), p. 3. “The role of foreign direct investment in the nutrition transition” (see footnote 24 above), p. 360. “Marketing activities of global soft drink and fast food companies …” (see footnote 26 above), pp. 8–12. “Profits and pandemics” (see footnote 8 above), p. 372. University of East Anglia, “Supermarket offers: a healthy choice for consumers?”, 21 November 2012. Available from http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2012/November/supermarketsoffers-paul-dobson. 7