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Maria, an indigenous woman from the Otomi people of Mexico, receives a monthly ration of sweetened cereals and boxed milk for her children. She says that she only consumes the cereals when they are given to her, because she prefers that her children consume "what is natural, what we grow, I have a small greenhouse with carrots, squash, broccoli, chard". The products that she and other members of her community receive are donated by the multinational company Kellogg's, as part of its corporate social responsibility program.  

An investigation by OjoPúblico's Cross-Border Research Network, in partnership with PopLab, identified - as a result of the analysis of 39 social responsibility programs of the most important companies in the ultra-processed food and beverage industry in Latin America - that in Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Brazil a significant part of the donations aimed at vulnerable populations have very low nutritional value: they are made up of sugary cereals, candy, sweetened beverages and other similar products.

A large part of these donations are channeled through Food Banks, non-profit organizations that collect food for distribution to populations with high food vulnerability due to high risks of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes.

Between 2021 and 2023, the food industry in the region donated more than 35 thousand tons of products in Colombia (Postobón, Alpina, Nutresa; Alquería, Aje are the largest donors); in Mexico, 67.2 million products were delivered (the most important are Pepsico, Kellogg's, Danone, Mondelez, Unilever, Nestlé and Coca Cola); in Brazil, the main donors are Nestlé, Bimbo and Burger King; and in Peru, the local food bank has companies such as Oxxo, Mondelez and PepsiCo as allies.

Generally, donations do not include foods such as vegetables, meats or foods with high nutritional content.

Generally, the donations that these banks receive do not include foodstuffs such as vegetables, meats or foods with high nutritional content. For this reason, some of them usually complement these donations with the purchase of other inputs and partnerships with farmers. 

In Peru, leader Abilia Ramos, president of the Red de Ollas Comunes in the San Juan de Lurigancho district - one of the poorest in the capital - reports that as part of the donations they have been given sugary drinks such as sodas and other ultra-processed products. 

"If you are willing, tell the businessmen: don't buy us soft drinks, what we need is food that has protein," says the leader of these organizations that prepare their food together to ensure that the entire community has access to food.

A study on common pots in Peru, published in the magazine Debate Agrario in 2024, relates the case of one of the organizations that during the pandemic (between 2020 and 2021) received donations from a supermarket, such as fresh vegetables and fruits and groceries, but that since 2022 this situation has changed and now receives sweets, processed foods and very little groceries.

"They give me more sweets, what they give me now is more chocolate, a lot of chocolate sometimes, and they even give me jars of manjar. So, yes, it is good, but it is not food for the people. It is not what people need. A lot of times they give me candy, gum, cookies. This is not what people are going to cook," says one of the women interviewed by researcher Gabriela Rengifo.

 

Advertising with a Social Responsibility face

 

Several scientific investigations point out that these donations, made through Food Banks as part of the industry's social responsibility actions, are actually advertising strategies. "They are a mechanism to create a stronger intention to buy," indicate the authors of the study Review on the market and policy practices of transnational food corporations and public health responses, published in 2021.

Simón Barquera, a researcher at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, points out that it is necessary that donated products do not harm health, because in "the poorest places, as is the case in Mexico, there are chronic diseases, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies.

The specialist considers it necessary that the authorities establish better criteria for these donations, prioritizing foods rich in nutrients, and that the industry should not be the one to define them.

The study on the practices of food corporations published in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management states that consumption of ultra-processed foods has stagnated in high-income countries, while in middle- and low-income countries their sales have increased.

They give me more sweets, what they give me now is more chocolate, a lot of chocolate sometimes,” says one beneficiary.

According to this research, large companies are taking advantage of this growth in emerging markets through the promotion of social responsibility actions, "as a valuable strategy to help reduce transaction costs when institutions that support the market are absent or weak, while increasing investment and future sales".

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend avoiding the consumption of foods high in saturated fats and free sugars (processed and ultra-processed).

To this end, and in view of the increase in diseases related to poor nutrition, in recent years Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Brazil have enacted laws against the sale of junk food in schools, regulated the advertising of these ultra-processed products and promoted labeling with the aim of protecting the health of the population, especially children.

At the same time, the industry has increased its influence through the donation of ultra-processed products through food banks in different countries.

The Global FoodBanking Network brings together 50 organizations in 45 countries and receives support from banks, businesses, foundations and companies related to the food industry, such as Kellogg's, General Mills and Herbalife, who have donated 651,000 tons of products worldwide as part of their social responsibility strategy, according to their 2023 report. 

Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Brazil accounted for 37% of the total amount donated that year worldwide (more than 245 thousand tons). More than one third of the target population for these products are children.

One of the companies that has donated the most products in Brazil and Mexico is Kellogg's of the United States. The company maintains in its public reports that this action is part of its commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals "to achieve food security and improve nutrition". 

Kellogg's is also one of the main ultra-processed food donors in Brazil, which has 95 food banks grouped in Sesc Mesa Brasil. 

In the world, the processed food companies that donate the most - according to the annual report of the Global FoodBanking Network - are Coca Cola, Nestlé, Pepsico, Carrefour, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Kellogg's, McDonald's, Mondelez, Starbucks, Unilever and Walmart.

 

Ultraprocessed products in the most vulnerable population

In Peru, the Banco de Alimentos, a non-profit civil organization, is one of the main intermediaries between the companies that make donations and the beneficiaries, such as children's shelters, homes for the elderly, schools, hospitals, canteens and other poor populations. 

This institution points out that, since it was created in 2014, they have sent these products to more than one million people in 19 regions of the country, and that its network of beneficiaries is made up of 900 social organizations and communities.

Mexican researcher Simón Barquera, one of the most renowned experts on healthy eating and president of the World Obesity Federation, explains that companies "focus [their marketing campaigns] on children, because they know that children, in addition to having a lot of influence on purchasing decisions in their homes, also become captive customers," he says.

One example of how ultra-processed food companies extend their influence to children is through the donations they make. In Peru, the company Backus and Johnston - part of the AB Inbev group, a Belgium-based multinational that produces beers and soft drinks - often donates to children and senior citizens in the Residential Care Centers of the National Integral Program for Family Welfare (Inabif).

The last donation in March 2024 was 2,010 units of beverages, 78% of which were sugar-sweetened beverages (soft drinks). 

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume no more than 30 grams of teaspoons of sugar per day. A single 200-milliliter glass of soda or bottled juice contains 5 teaspoons of sugar.

Simón Barquera, presidente de la Federación Mundial de Obesidad, explica que las empresas “enfocan [sus campañas] en las infancias.

Simón Barquera, who is also director of the Center for Nutrition and Health Research at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, warns that "the region of the Americas and particularly Latin America is one of the areas where the most important increases in obesity are expected in the coming years and where the highest percentage of the population is overweight and obese in general.

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) reports that Latin America has undergone a "nutritional transition", that is, that "traditional diets rich in fruits and vegetables and low in animal products have been replaced by an energy-rich, nutrient-poor diet composed of refined carbohydrates, high fat consumption and processed foods". 

In that 2019 report, Unicef explains that this is due to the rapid expansion of self-service stores in the region, which carry cheap and mostly unhealthy diets. They have called these spaces "obesogenic environments", because they promote the consumption of products of low nutritional quality.

This situation generates, according to Simón Barquera, a double impact: having at the same time a large number of people with obesity and another with malnutrition. 

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 5.7 million children under 5 years of age are stunted, while 8.6% of this population is overweight. In 10 years, undernutrition in the region has decreased; however, overweight has increased in this sector of the population at middle and high levels.

The top 10 food and beverage companies around the world control 80% of the products sold in stores, with annual profits exceeding USD 100 billion. 75% of their revenues come from junk products.

When asked about donations of ultra-processed food, Juan Carlos Buitrago, executive director of the Food Bank of Colombia (ABACO) considers that public policy on food security must evolve. "There are countries there are food banks in the world that already have the luxury of only rescuing food from the field, fruits and vegetables; but in those countries there is no food insecurity, there are no deaths from malnutrition, they are developed countries," he stated.

And he mentioned that in the case of Colombia alone, 4.2 million people do not complete the calories they need per day.

 

The influence of the industry

 

Actions to reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods in the most vulnerable populations of Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and other Latin American countries are proceeding at a slow pace. 

Brazilian nutritionist Ana Paula Bortoletto, from the Epidemiology in Nutrition and Health Research Center of the University of Sao Paulo, explains that the approval of policies in the region has taken a lot of time and effort due to industry interference.

"One of [the ultra-processed food industry's] strategies is to organize advocacy groups, such as trade associations, to have direct relationships with decision-makers in regulatory agencies, health institutions and working groups. These organizations represent the interests, technical and political positions of large corporations without their names being directly involved," says Bortoletto.

Mexico and Argentina have the most successful experiences in regulating ultra-processed foods, according to Bortoletto, due to the strong package of regulatory measures approved, such as nutritional labeling, advertising and supply restrictions in schools and regulations to identify unhealthy foods, and the greater impact on public health. 

The nutritionist is critical of her country because she considers that Brazil has made progress with food guides, which recommend avoiding the consumption of these foods, and the promotion of healthy eating in schools, but not with the labeling of these products because, to indicate the high, medium or low amounts of sugars, salt and fats, it uses the nutritional traffic light system (red, yellow and green colors) and not the octagonal model, which experts consider more effective and which has been implemented in Peru, Colombia and Mexico.

Mirko Lázaro, a nutritionist at Peru's National Health Institute, has a similar opinion. He recognizes that the Peruvian government's regulatory provisions, such as the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating for Children and Adolescents, the food guidelines and the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, have had an impact on the ultra-processed food industry, but considers that there is still a long way to go. 

133 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean do not have access to a healthy diet

"Companies have reduced the sugar, sodium and saturated fat content in many of their products; however, we must continue to improve nutrition education among the population, especially the most vulnerable, such as children and adolescents," says Lázaro.

In addition to the progress of regulatory policies, Bortoletto highlights the growing coordination between Latin American countries for the exchange of experiences, information and lessons learned. 

"This regional collaboration is very important to ensure more effective public policies and minimize conflicts of interest and interference from the ultra-processed industry," says the Brazilian nutritionist. 

For his part, Lázaro proposes improving internal coordination between the health, education and agriculture sectors in each country, in order to promote the consumption of natural or minimally processed foods and avoid ultra-processed foods.

From Colombia, Lorena Ibarra, from The Global Health Advocate Incubator, warns that when companies fail to stop the advance of policies that restrict the consumption of their unhealthy products, they seek to weaken it. 

"Industry creates alternative policy standards. If there is no expertise from civil society and academic organizations free of government conflict of interest, measures can be adopted that are useless to protect health and very functional for industry," warns Ibarra.

In 2023, a bill presented by congressmen of the Alianza Verde party sought to prohibit the donation of ten ultra-processed foods (table chocolate, flaked oatmeal, curd, Greek yogurt, marinated chicken pieces, sliced bread, ham, chorizo, compote and packaged juices), but the initiative did not prosper due to questions from a sector of the industry and the Food Bank. 

Official figures to 2022 indicate that in Latin America and the Caribbean, 133.4 million people do not have access to a healthy diet. Analysis of these figures reveals that in this region the average cost of a healthy diet is higher than elsewhere. While the global average for a healthy diet is US$3.96 per person per day, in Latin America it is US$4.56. Peru (US$33.6) and Colombia (US$36.6) have the highest costs.

Although food banks are independent organizations, they work closely with ultra-processed food companies, with whom they have collaboration agreements, are donors or allies.

When asked about donations of ultra-processed products, Clarisa Fonseca, communications manager of the Mexican Food Bank Network, told this report that her organization "does not demonize any product". 

He explained that, although there are "foods that nutritionally will not contribute anything, in our country there are people who go to sleep hungry every day and live hungry, so what we do with the support of nutritionists is to deliver a balanced package so that if we deliver products that have a high sugar or fat content, they can be counterbalanced with other products that do not".

For his part, Juan Carlos Buitrago, the director of the Association of Food Banks of Colombia, explains that in the country there are 22 thousand children with acute malnutrition. "There are those who say that industrialized food should not be consumed in Colombia and should not be donated. We think differently: we believe that in Colombia all food is good. Any food is harmful when consumed in excess," he commented.

However, Simón Barquera believes that the donation of hyper-palatable foods (such as ultra-processed foods), which have intense flavors, can have an impact on children. "When children taste natural foods, they taste less and, as a sensory issue, they stop preferring them," he points out.

Ultra-processed foods-such as soft drinks, bottled juices, energy drinks, fruit yogurt, potato chips, snacks, cookies, chocolates, candies, sugary cereals, energy bars, sausages, processed meats such as sausages or hamburgers, chicken nuggets and cereal bars-are associated with health problems, including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and depression, among others, according to a large-scale study published in the British Medical Journal in 2024. 

For this investigation, interviews were requested from the regional company representatives of Coca-Cola and Nestlé, both of whom indicated that they would not give interviews. Grupo Bimbo and Kellogg's did not respond to requests made through their official e-mails.