1 Typrin Rachel Typrin Professor Eslamieh English 100 23 May 2023 Junk Food Junkyard: How Junk Food is Advertised There is a disproportionate amount of money being spent on advertising in the junk food industry. Because it is such a profitable industry, companies are able to spend “almost $14 billion per year on advertising in the United States”, comparatively, the “budget for all chronic disease prevention and health promotion at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” is around $1 million3. The United States has seen a dramatic and parallel increase in the amount of junk food the average American consumes and the growth of the mass marketing of processed junk food. Companies take advantage of vulnerable and impressionable demographics like children or those in food deserts (which are often in communities of color), and without regulation, these companies will continue to grow their industry. These companies have an incredible amount of money to dedicate to strategic marketing and this affects children and teens the most out of any age demographic. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health’s (IJERPH) study on processed food marketing: “U.S. cereal companies spent $173 million in marketing to children under 12”4, an unfathomable amount of money. This budget goes to ensuring that packaging intentionally uses ambiguous language on nutrition labels, make unbacked claims about health benefits, and other dishonest 2 Typrin claims. Further in this subject, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other key nutrition and health organizations recommend that children never consume drinks with added sugar. This is a problem because according to the same study by the IJERPH: Child-targeted single-serving fruit drinks and juices had a higher percentage of unit sales due to displays and price reductions overall than did similar drinks not targeted to children4. Despite medical professionals’ advice, sugary drinks are still being sold to children (or rather childrens’ parents) because of the dishonesty we see on the packaging. Similarly, in Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, we see how this is not a unique phenomenon to this specific market within the food industry: The flavor industry is highly secretive. Its leading companies will not divulge the precise formulas of flavor compounds or the identities of clients. The secrecy is deemed essential for protecting the reputation of beloved brands6. The flavor industry in the fast food subsect also requires a vail of misdirection in order to maintain their economic success. This problem in the food industry in our country, especially with child obesity at an all-time high, needs to be addressed with regulations in terms of marketing. It is likely that if people had access to non-proccessed food and food-label literacy wasn’t as necessary or time consuming, we might see completely different consumer trends at supermarkets. 3 Typrin Beyond misleading marketing, companies in the junk food industry’s ability to maintain financial growth is also dependent on their prices staying low so that individuals will choose their product over a more-expensive, healthier alternative. According to a research article published through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) shows just how heavily the environment in which someone lives impacts their diet: 47 percent of participants reported that they did most of their food shopping within 1 mile of their home… Overall, 31 percent of participants did not have a supermarket located within 1 mile of their home.5 Another study, Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States, shows that: Larger sized food stores such as supermarkets versus smaller stores and chain versus non-chain supermarkets have been shown to be more likely to stock healthful foods and to offer foods at a lower cost1. The same study also conducted research on locations that did and did not have chain restaurants. Most of these areas that did not have a chain grocery store near them were also communities with much lower incomes, and were disproportionately communities of color. When we think about the impacts junk food companies have on American Citizens, the effects are much more prominent on poorer areas. Junk food is 4 Typrin more consistently stocked in supermarkets in lower income neighborhoods and in addition to the market tactics used, it is extremely difficult for people there to maintain a healthy diet. In conjunction with the advertising and marketing tactics mentioned previously, supermarkets, regardless of location or size or brand, have been study and proven to be just as responsible for the sales of junk food. After conducting a study on the correlation between store layout and BMI: Positioning unhealthy drinks and snacks at the ends of aisles, at checkouts, and in islands was associated with greater sales of these unhealthy items and increased BMI7. It is important that we assess the greater impacts of how companies and stores decide to market their products. In grocery stores especially, people are most vulnerable to these marketing strategies when they are hungry, young, or in a food desert. When we look at the demographic breakdown of US adults with obesity, we see just how impactful these advertising practices are. “Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.9%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (45.6%)”2. Marketing is not a victimless crime and is a residual effect of racism in the United States. Based on several different studies across different demographics, locations, and product types, it is clear that the food system needs to change in order to address the obesity problem in our country. To put junk-eaters at fault for their eating habits would be inaccurate and a sign of misplaced blame. Luckily, some work is already being done 5 Typrin to reorganize grocery stores to promote healthier eating habits, but if we need to make sure we are including communities in this progress that are disproportionately affected by misleading marketing. Sources: 1. Author links open overlay panelLisa M. Powell a b, a, b, AbstractObjective.This study provides a multivariate analysis of the availability of food store outlets in the US and associations with neighborhood characteristics on race, Cheadle, A., Drewnowski, A., Laraia, B. A., Morland, K., Swinburn, B., Zenk, S., Allison, D. B., Alwitt, L. F., (BLS), B. of L. S., Burkhardt, J. E., Chang, V. W., Chung, C., Clifton, K. J., Cotterill, R. W., Cummins, S., … Egger, G. (2006, September 25). Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States. Preventive Medicine. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091743506003343 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, May 17). Adult obesity facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html 3. Ha, E. (2020, April 20). Food marketing. UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health. https://uconnruddcenter.org/research/food-marketing/ 6 Typrin 4. L. Harris, J., Webb, V., J. Sacco, S., & L. Pomeranz, J. (2020, February 17). Marketing to children in supermarkets: An opportunity for public policy to improve children’s diets. MDPI. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/4/1284 5. Moore, L. V., Diez Roux, A. V., Nettleton, J. A., & Jacobs, D. R. (2008, April 15). Associations of the local food environment with Diet Quality--a comparison of assessments based on surveys and geographic information systems: The multi-ethnic study of Atherosclerosis. American journal of epidemiology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2587217/ 6. Schlosser, E. (2012). Fast Food Nation: The dark side of the all-american meal. Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 7. Shaw, S. C., Ntani, G., Baird, J., & Vogel, C. A. (2020, June 1). Systematic review of the influences of food store product placement on dietary-related outcomes. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/78/12/1030/5850124