Executive Summary: FEAST - Food companies' commitments on population nutrition, health, and sustainability in Ireland

A corrected version of this report is now available. Please refer to the updated version at

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14513255

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are responsible for the premature death of up to 17 million people (57%) worldwide. In 2019, 90% of preventable deaths in Ireland were due to NCDs. In addition to lives lost, the economic burden continues to escalate. Spiraling costs associated with NCDs such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer cost the EU healthcare systems almost €155 billion and €103 billion respectively.

Unhealthy diet is one of the leading causes of NCDs worldwide with increased consumption of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods leading to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and other harmful conditions, including overweight and obesity. A compelling case has now been made that this increased consumption is driven by changes in the food environment, rather than, for example, by changes to individuals’ values and preferences, or by changes in consumption of specific nutrients.

The importance of a good diet for health and wellbeing of citizens is globally recognised. At the same time there are large health disparities, and different socioeconomic groups have differential access and ability to choose healthy foods that can help them to maintain their health. It is also recognised that increasing socioeconomic inequalities in diet and health over the past decade have coincided with large and detrimental changes in the food environment. The food environment is described as all contexts in which people engage with the food system to make their food choices. To date, to improve population diets, actions relied predominantly on individuals changing their behaviour, while the food environment in which these choices were being made remained largely unchanged or has changed to the detriment of health promoting choices. This approach not only ignores that poor diets are the result of a complex web of determinants. There is a growing consensus that structural changes are needed through the simultaneous implementation of a comprehensive set of actions and policies, including improvements of the food environment to create a shift towards healthy dietary choices in the entire population.

The food industry has the potential to be a major driver of positive change. The products and practices of the food industry play a significant role in shaping our food systems and environments, but, all too often, their impact has been negative (WHO Europe Region, 2024). Even so, food industry actors can be ‘part of the solution’ and it is increasingly common for companies to make extensive commitments around improved nutrition, health and sustainability.