Research

Mixed

Foreign direct investment (FDI) by transnational food companies into developing countries drives the nutrition transition by increasing the availability, lowering the prices, and expanding the marketing of highly processed foods, thereby increasing their consumption.

Public health policy should target foreign direct investment in the food sector as a primary lever for improving population health. Governments in developing countries should implement regulatory conditionalities on foreign food companies, such as restrictions on marketing to children and requirements for nutritional standards, to 'redirect' the nutrition transition towards healthier outcomes.

ModerateSupportsHIGH confidence
FDI has been a key mechanism in shaping the global market for highly processed foods... it has played a role in the nutrition transition by enabling and promoting the consumption of these foods in developing countries.
Corinna Hawkes · Public Health Nutrition · 2005

Why this rating

This is a review paper synthesizing economic data and case studies, not a primary clinical trial.

Source

The role of foreign direct investment in the nutrition transition

Corinna Hawkes · Public Health Nutrition · 2005

DOI 10.1079/phn2004706

narrative_reviewCited 240×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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