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Preventive Nutrition and the Food Industry: Perspectives on History, Present, and Future Directions

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Preventive Nutrition

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Over the last 50 years, there have been unprecedented gains for human health around the world (72). Life expectancy has soared in many developing countries and is now converging with trends in developed countries. A large part of this progress can be attributed to improved nutrition. However, in two parts of the world, there has been significant regression. First, in sub-Saharan Africa, life expectancy has declined for over a decade, driven directly by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and indirectly by the continued and worsening food crisis. Additionally, in several countries previously part of the Soviet Union, including Russia, life expectancy among men has declined, a process driven by unhealthy diets and considerable alcohol and tobacco consumption (1).

Key Points

• Despite overall progress in health status, major nutrition challenges remain at both ends of the spectrum—that of feast and that of famine.

• The emergence of new business models that tackle social problems while remaining profitable offers promise that the long-term nutrition needs of people can be met.

• Urbanization and industrialization in the late 19th century in Europe and the United States led to what was to become the modern food industry—characterized by high safety standards and the production of foods affordable and permanently available to most people.

• The food industry has advanced scientific knowledge across a range of major food-related challenges: adding or restoring nutrients to foods through fortification; reducing levels of salt and saturated fats; and developing foods with specific health benefits.

• New private–public interactions hold promise that partnerships will emerge to tackle obesity and undernutrition. The May 2008 pledge by the CEOs of eight leading food companies to support WHO’s Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health being one example.

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Acknowledgements

We thank many colleagues at PepsiCo for critical inputs. Substantive ideas were provided by Danielle Dalheim, RD; James Holden, MS; Anne Kurilich, PhD; Renee Mellican, PhD; Heather Nelson-Cortes, PhD; Kari Ryan, PhD, RD; Steve Saunders, PhD; and Kimberly White, PhD.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. VP Global Health Policy, Pepsico Headquarters, Anderson Hill Road, 700, 10577, New York, USA

    Derek Yach MBCHC, MPH

  2. Consultant for Global Nutrition and Public Policy, Pepsico Headquarters, Anderson Hill Road, 700, 10577, New York, USA

    Zoë Feldman MPH

  3. VP Nutrition, PepsiCo Headquarters, Anderson Hill Road, 700, 10577, New York, USA

    Dondeena Bradley PHD

  4. PepsiCo Headquarters, Anderson Hill Road, 700, 10577, New York, USA

    Robert Brown

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  1. Derek Yach MBCHC, MPH
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Correspondence to Derek Yach MBCHC, MPH .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New Products Research, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Littleton Road 1500 , Parsippany, 07054, U.S.A.

    Adrianne Bendich

  2. Inst. Human Nutrition, Columbia University, West 168th St. 630 , New York, 10032, U.S.A.

    Richard J. Deckelbaum

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Yach, D., Feldman, Z., Bradley, D., Brown, R. (2010). Preventive Nutrition and the Food Industry: Perspectives on History, Present, and Future Directions. In: Bendich, A., Deckelbaum, R. (eds) Preventive Nutrition. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-542-2_31

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