these nutritional failures, it is first necessary to ask: Who rules global food
systems? By and large it’s ‘Big Food,’ by which we refer to multinational
food and beverage companies with huge and concentrated market power”
(Stuckler & Nestle, 2012). Swinburn even states that “The commercial dri-
vers of the obesity epidemic are so influential that obesity can be considered
a robust sign of commercial successconsumers are buying more food,
more cars and more energy-saving machines” ( 2008 ,p.5).
Clearly the food industry is held responsible for contributing to the obe-
sogenicenvironment and thus seen as a causal factor in the obesity epi-
demic. The standard comparison to the universally discredited tobacco
industry is part of a strategy to name and shame the food industry into
conforming its production and its products to the criteria for healthy food
established by the public health experts. The goal is to “denormalize” pre-
sent practices as has been accomplished with the tobacco industry.
Importantly, the “denormalization” of tobacco also involved the denorma-
lization of the smoker! While denormalization of the food industry is
making some progress it is not an easy task. Denormalization of over-
weight people, however, has already been accomplishedat least in the
Western worldfor almost a century.
This blend of medical science and public health activism is a highly
common phenomenon in the battle against NCDs. It also is very effective
in influencing public health policy makers. In this battle medical scientists
such as Marion Nestle work in close collaboration with public health
organizations such as the Epode International Network (EIN) the self-
proclaimed “the world’s largest obesity prevention network” or the
International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The IDF was one of a number of
such organizationsworking together as the NCD Alliancewhich peti-
tioned the WHO to put NCDs on their agenda. The letter this NCD
Alliance sent to United Nation’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was
signed by four chairpersons, all of them having scientific credentials (NCD
Alliance, n.d.). Sometimes key personnel in such organizations also have
ties to interested economic parties. One such case is the International
Obesity Task Force (IOTF) on which theBMJreported in 2006: “Obesity
task force linked to WHO takes ‘millions’ from drug firms” (BMJNews,
2006 ). It is from such backgrounds that priorities for policy makers are set
by the WHO. Such prioritiesfor example, reducing salt and “bad” carbo-
hydrates and fatsare also set by national public health authorities and
used in negotiations with the food industry which is supposed to comply
with official guidelines.
Fat people are labeled as deviant and accordingly stigmatized and discri-
minated because of moral or bodily shortcomings: that is, they can be seen
130 ROEL PIETERMAN