From the age of 13, I started
stuffing myself with potato chips, pastries and cookies. I’d sit in front
of the TV and just eat more and more. The ads showed all this
stuff that looked really tasty - and I needed
to try everything. At school, I got picked on a lot about
my weight. I was angry with myself. Why am I gaining so much
weight? Why am I so ugly? Why do people
think I’m a monster? Why do I get insulted in the street by
strangers, just because of how I look? I was mad at myself for
putting on so much weight and not being
able to lose it. In movies, people seemed to
have no problem losing weight. But reality
is different. Carole is 34 years old and lives
near the Swiss city of Lausanne. Since her teens, her diet has
consisted primarily of sandwiches, snacks and sugary
drinks... junk food. The more I ate,
the worse I felt - including my problems
with how people looked at me. And I ate more
to feel better. It was a vicious circle
that I couldn't escape from. And my "doses"
continually increased. Of things that were sweeter
or saltier or more flavorful. I gradually
lost control. Sugar, salt and fat: three ingredients
that make food irresistible. Scientists working for
manufacturers are constantly trying to find the perfect combination
of these tempting ingredients. We talked to a man who
knows the industry inside and out, and reveals the strategies
deployed by the food giants. Those three ingredients
are very powerful. Salt, they call it
the flavor burst, because typically, it’s on the
surface of chips, on snacks. It’s the first thing that
touches the tongue. They love fats, as well, because those
are what they call the mouth feel. The sensation of biting into, you
know, a warm, toasted cheese sandwich. And then, probably, the most powerful
of the three for many people, is sugar. Just, by natural, by basic instinct.
And so the industry has engineered what they call
the bliss point, the perfect amount
of sugar in products: not too little,
not too much, working on maximizing
the allure of their products. The investigative
journalist spent years researching for his best-selling
book on the food industry and the manufacturing
of processed foods. I resisted calling their
products addictive, because it seemed crazy to me to
compare Oreo cookies with heroin. It just seemed
ludicrous. But I have to say, that several
things completely changed my mind. And I’m now convinced
that in some ways, these food products are
even more problematic for us than tobacco, alcohol,
even some kinds of drugs. It's no longer a secret that
these highly processed products are directly linked to the
global obesity epidemic. Carole is a patient
at the obesity clinic of the University
Hospital in Lausanne. Two years ago, her
obesity almost killed her. She was barely able
to move or even breath. She's recently undergone
gastric bypass surgery, which drastically reduced
the size of her stomach. Carole's come to the clinic
today to see an endocrinologist and a psychiatrist. She's already shed 35 kilos,
but has a lot of things to re-learn - such as the sensation
of feeling hungry or full. She also has to learn
self-respect again. She’s got a long
road ahead of her. How have you been? I don’t feel like there’s been a
change or I’ve lost any weight. In the mirror, I can't
see any difference. I do see it in the
clothes, though. The shirt I'm wearing
used to be too small for me. And there are some
pants that were too small that I can wear again, and
others that are now too big! The multidisciplinary department
at Lausanne University Hospital has around 15-hundred
overweight patients on its books. Carole is one of the 220
who suffer from obesity. We've seen an explosion
in the number of patients suffering from
extreme obesity. In recent decades our
immediate environment has seen changes so profound that
we now call it obesogenic or toxic. And toxic in
terms of calories. Advertising and special
promotional offers encourage us to eat more and more food
- and often of poorer quality. And this compromises
our personal freedom. Here in Switzerland, 42% of
the population is overweight. One in ten
is obese. There's a link between the emergence
of ultra-processed junk food, the decrease in physical activity,
and increase in screen time. And this ensemble of environmental
factors favors the explosion of obesity that we're
currently seeing. Research papers show
growing indications of the link between obesity and the consumption
of industrially processed foods. Absolutely. Ultra-processed
foods often have calories in extremely large quantities while
not necessarily making you feel full. And in the context of
this explosion in obesity, these foods clearly
play a major role. A doctor linking unhealthy
food to obesity is understandable. But what we might not expect is
the world's largest food manufacturer admitting the same. In 2021, Nestlé came under fire after
details from an internal presentation were published by
the Financial Times. The document showed
the company acknowledging that the majority of its
products were unhealthy. Over 60% did not meet a
“recognized definition of health". The data did not
include coffee, baby formulas and food for
specific medical conditions. The presentation was
intended for company executives as a basis for revising
their corporate strategy. And the multinational's
response to the revelation? Was it a shock to learn that
far more products than expected were below this threshold
for unhealthy foods? Once we realized this, we
knew we had to do something. We want to determine which
products we should keep, which ones we discard, and
which ones we could reformulate. And this is a policy
that you're following because there is a real awareness that
a lot of your foods are unhealthy? Or because you need
to keep selling products to stay number
one in the world? We want to be there for
consumers, and be where they are. With Covid, there's been growing
concern about health and immunity - and about
sugar intake. People are now more aware of the
need to reduce their consumption. We want to accompany people on that
journey to eat better and stay healthy. Nestlé has already removed a number
of product lines from its portfolio, such as sausage
products. But why didn't the Swiss
multinational and other food giants change
course sooner? Minneapolis, USA.
The 8th of April, 1999. A secret meeting
brought together the CEOs of the country's eight biggest food
companies - among them, Nestlé USA. On the agenda: their role in one of the
most serious public health epidemics ever seen in the US: rising
overweight and obesity rates. There is growing concern about
their culpability of their products to weight gain, to diabetes, to
even several types of cancer. And they get together and one of
them, a gentleman named Michael Mudd, who’s an executive
vice president of Kraft, one of the biggest companies
of all, introduces the crowd, and gets up and
explains the situation. "We cannot pretend food isn’t
part of the obesity problem... No credible expert will
attribute the rise in obesity solely to decreased
physical activity. The one thing we
shouldn’t do is nothing..." As you can imagine, he was not well
received by the heads of the companies and one of the company executives
gets up and he’s kind of visibly angry and he goes, you know,
look, there’s no way, he says, that we’re going to mess
around with the company jewels, - referring to their powerful
ingredients like salt, sugar, fat - if that's going to diminish the allure,
the attractiveness of the sales. The corporations saw no reason -
or incentive - to change anything. The meeting ended abruptly -
illustrating their lack of interest. There was - seemingly - no
stopping the obesity epidemic - as shown by the growing
amount of red on this map. Weight gain is rapidly
increasing - worldwide. The darker the shades of red,
the higher the rates of obesity. Mexico is among the
countries most gravely affected. Over three-quarters of
the adult population here are classified as
overweight or obese. Mexico also has one the
worst rates of child obesity. In grocery stores here, the
shelves are packed with junk food. Obesity is prevalent among
all ages of the population... including Rogelio, who mostly eats
chips, other snacks, and sugary drinks. Ever since I was little, I've
been eating this type of food. My mother never told
me to eat fruit instead. She always said: If
you like it, then eat it. Rogelio is
a cab driver. He spends up to 12
hours a day in his car. It's super-tasty and
helps me keep on working. I can keep driving without
having to stop to feed myself. At home, it’s the same. Fast, fatty
and cheap food - washed down with soda. Rogelio has two children: a daughter
in her teens, and a little boy. I'll show you some pictures
where I was a little fat. Me with my son. Here I weighed about 120
kilos... and in this picture, 126 kilos. Was all that
weight a burden? Yes, I was really suffering. You
don't want to go out anymore, because you're
immediately out of breath. Honestly, I was just lying
around and eating continuously. Since then, I've been trying to lose
some weight, so I can live longer. The current government has made
the battle against obesity a priority. And leading the charge...
is Hugo López-Gatell - a doctor, trusted advisor to the
president and deputy minister of health. For at least the
last 15 years, about a third of all deaths in Mexico
have been caused by poor nutrition. And that’s mainly due to excess amounts
of sugar, calories, fat and salt. In 1980, just under 7% of the
population in Mexico was obese. Since then, the figure
has risen over five-fold. In that same time-frame, the
country has undergone radical changes - due to the opening of the
market to international trade. In the 1980s, there was
a very abrupt change. Both economically
and socially, the country turned towards
neoliberalism and economic deregulation. At the same time, the
protections provided by the state against health risks
were dismantled - although it would take a few years
for the consequences to become apparent. There was an increase in overweight
people - and after about 10 to 15 years, we were seeing chronic
diseases like hypertension, diabetes, obesity
and cancer etcetera. The tipping point was the signing
of the free trade agreements with the US and
Canada in 1994 - which flooded the Mexican market
with cheap, processed products. The ubiquity of sugary drinks, like
Coca-Cola, is symbolic of this disaster. Today Mexicans consume an average of
163 liters of soda per person per year. With action
urgently needed, the Mexican parliament passed
three essential regulations: a sugar tax, a clamp-down
on adverts targeting children, and a warning label prominently
displayed on unhealthy products - similar to
cigarette packaging. The measures were lobbied
for by consumer groups, doctors and private groups
like the one run by Doré Castillo. Today, manufacturers have to
declare whether their products contain excess sugar, calories,
saturated fat, trans fats, and salt. This is fundamental in the fight
against excess weight, obesity and preventable
non-communicable diseases. To avoid these labels, many brands
have changed product formulas and reduced the amount
of sugar, for example. And then there are there the
restrictions on children's products - in particular the
animal mascots. The manufacturers had to remove
the tigers from these cereal boxes. Others had an
elephant or a toucan. These images are ingrained in
the memory of so many children - and are all part of
a marketing strategy to boost sales
and brand loyalty. It's great to see these
labels and different packaging helping people make their
decisions. It was really tough - part of the general
struggle we're fighting to protect the health
of people in Mexico. Food corporations have
launched legal challenges to oppose the
mandatory labels. They claim that the labels
"prevent consumers from being able to compare products and selecting
those that mean a healthy diet." It's scandalous
that food companies - whether they're multinational,
international or Mexican - are so indifferent
to human suffering. Basically, they have
contempt for ordinary people. I've heard these executives so often,
pretending to talk to the government. But in reality, they
have other intentions: delaying tactics and
misinformation in order to win time and keep on
making profit - despite being aware that they
are killing people, especially minors. We contacted the big players
in the Mexican food industry - but none of them wanted
to give us an interview. As for the situation
in Switzerland... Here, there are no
legal constraints in place to combat overweight
and obesity rates - despite them costing over 8 billion
Swiss francs a year in healthcare. How about a tax
on sugary drinks? An idea that's already been adopted
in over 50 nations around the world. Among them are a number of European
countries, including France and Britain. And: it works. We take the example of a bottle
of Fanta bought in a store in Britain, where it's subject
to the special tax. Some of the sugar has been
replaced with a sweetener, reducing the sugar content
to 4-point-6 grams per deciliter. The same drink in Switzerland
contains 10-point-3 grams of sugar - over twice
the amount. That’s right! 4.6 grams
as opposed to 10.3. It's difficult to tell whether what
you're consuming is healthy. There are 15 different
names for sugar, and we never know how
high its content actually is. There are marketing tools enabling
companies to hide the sugar content. The government needs
to take responsibility here. Politician Delphine Bachmann
has submitted an initiative from the Geneva region for
the Swiss national parliament. The goal is a tax
to limit sugar content in beverages and
processed foods. The industry knows full well
that the products are unhealthy. Companies know
they're hiding sugar, but they're afraid to
lose these consumers who've become accustomed to the
products. They don't want transparency. What we need
is political action, and there are signs
of that in a few regions. My hope is that the
accumulation of political moves will push our authorities into
action - and also raise awareness among the population about these
issues... and bring about change. Over the last few years, a series
of motions have been submitted, calling for state
intervention - to no avail. While a sugar tax is
not yet on the agenda, the parliament is planning possible
restrictions on advertising to children. A majority of parliament does
not want market regulation for ideological
reasons. And there are lobby groups linked
to sugar production and processing, and the food industry, who
have friends in parliament. Lobbies are important sources
of expertise and information. But when industry
interests become dominant and influence public health
and spending, that's not OK. We show this politician
the soda from Switzerland containing twice the sugar
content as the British version. ...and the World Bank report
on the impact of the sugar tax. "...The taxation of
sugar-sweetened beverages is internationally recommended
as a priority component of a comprehensive approach to
preventing and controlling obesity." The World Bank report speaks
volumes - and is encouraging reading. It clearly says that hidden
sugars are a disaster, and that the sugar
content has to be reduced in the interest of public health
concerns and public spending. But that’s not going to be of interest
for the majority of parliament. How does parliament
explain their resistance? We put that question
to 10 Swiss politicians who are also members of a soft-drinks
lobby group representing the likes of Coca-Cola, Red Bull and
domestic sugary beverage suppliers. A statement by
the group claims: "...We are active and
transparent participants in the political
and social debate." And yet: of the ten members of parliament
we asked, none agreed to an interview. For consumers facing a
constant flood of advertising, making an informed choice
isn’t so straightforward... as we see at this
Geneva school. A presentation teaches pupils
about the amounts of sugar and fat in processed foods. Over here are products
that, ideally, they should avoid. On the other side are healthy
options - the kinds of foods they should be consuming instead
of potato chips and sugary drinks. The children show us
what they normally eat. Can you show us
what you have there? Wow! Since its introduction 15 years
ago, the program has spread... and is now being used by
one in three Geneva schools. Eating behavior is
formed in early childhood, before the age of 10, when
most of our habits develop. The food industry has
understood this very well and targets children
with aggressive marketing to get them used to ultra-processed
foods and neatly-packaged snacks. Which of these things would you
buy first when you’re in a store? Kinder Bueno, candies,
M&Ms and apples. Chips, waffles, candies
and M&Ms. That's all. Why? They look tasty! And you? Everything
over here! Most people have cravings
for sweet, salty and fatty foods. But for some,
like Rebecca, these cravings can become
a serious health problem. For 20 years she's been suffering
from a compulsive eating disorder - binge-eating on
a regular basis, consuming enormous amounts
in a very short period of time. It became a habit. When the emotions
got too much, food became my refuge. Sometimes it felt like a
complete disaster inside me - and this was the
only way I could cope. Rebecca has
been out shopping - to show us what she
would typically consume when emotional stress led to binge-eating.
A courageous step on her part. So you'd eat all of
this in one sitting? Maybe not everything,
but most of it. And how do you proceed?
What would you start with? ...The ravioli. The ravioli
with meat? Yes. With
cream sauce. How much? ...The whole pack.
Plus grated cheese. Also the
whole pack? Yes. Everything
has to go! And then? You
carry on eating? It depends on how much
room I still have in my stomach! These I would've eaten on
the way here... the whole lot. Then perhaps a couple of madeleines.
And then some cookies - the whole pack. And how do
you feel then? Not good. The first few
bites are always nice. You have the taste... and you
enjoy eating these products. But after a while,
there's no more pleasure. And it's then simply not
possible for you to stop eating? ...No. I don't stop until
I have to, physically... when the stomach-ache is so
bad that I can't sit or lie down. And you feel
ashamed? Yes, absolutely. That's
why I do it in secret. I feel ashamed, because nobody's
asking me to eat all of this stuff, in these excessive
quantities. Why are you telling
us about this now? Saying it out loud
is part of my journey - acknowledging it and admitting
to myself that I have a problem. I'm trying to find a
way out and a solution. And I want to tell
people that this isn't easy. It's not just a
question of willpower. A lot of it takes place
behind closed doors. Rebecca also sought
help from the obesity clinic at Lausanne
University Hospital. She's now working with a psychiatrist
on her relationship to food, in order to prevent
future binges. So how have you been
doing since last week? Good. The intake of food is extremely
quick, and the foods are often those that generate a feeling
of excitement, and craving. In many cases:
sweet, fatty foods. It's at this point that they lose
control, and are unable to stop. Countless experiments have been
conducted on people losing control when consuming
particular substances. This rat is quick to learn
that pressing a pedal will reward it with a dose of sugar
- which it then eats frantically. A similar experiment showed that rats
prefer consuming sugar to cocaine. The power of sugar is far more
important than previously thought - as was confirmed
by this experiment. Benjamin Boutrel heads a
neurobiological research unit for addictive and eating disorders
at Lausanne University Hospital. His area of focus is the mechanism
behind addiction and loss of control. We see changes in the brain of someone
who cannot control their intake of fatty and
sugary foods... And they're comparable
to those seen with excessive and uncontrolled
consumption of alcohol, cocaine or tobacco. We can draw a parallel
between the agri-food industry and the
tobacco industry - in terms of the way they've
optimized their products, and how they've changed
the very nature of their product: in this case,
ultra-processing. Tobacco companies
add texturizers and flavors to optimize the nicotine efficacy.
The objective in both cases is to retain their consumers
and increase sales. Journalist Michael Moss,
who has dubbed sugar, salt and fat an
unholy trinity, wanted to understand how US
food engineers develop products, and investigated many
industry laboratories. The industry hates
the word addictive. You won't see them
in their laboratories, talking to each
other, like, How do we make this new
potato chip more addictive? They use other terms
to describe their efforts to maximize the
allure of their products. They talk about engineering
"crave-ability" for example, right. They talk about engineering,
well, on of my favorite expressions, is "moreishness",
right, as in, getting us to want more
and more of their product. Are manufacturers deliberately
targeting vulnerable consumers? The industry has a formula which
they call, sort of, the 80/20 rule, which is that 20% of their customers
will be eating 80% of the product. So: a few people
eating a whole lot. They call those
people the heavy users. And they will target
them through marketing, knowing that those
people for various reasons are vulnerable to
overeating their products. If they focus on the
20% of customers who are eating 80% of the product,
they’re going to maximize their sales. What about Nestlé, the
world's biggest food corporation? Is it targeting people
prone to excessive eating? And why does the company
continue marketing products that it has itself called unhealthy?
During a one-hour interview, we repeatedly asked
questions like these - and were given almost
always the same answer. Nestlé wants to help
people to eat well, which means finding the right
balance between enjoyment and health. Nestlé's philosophy is to
help consumers eat well, combining enjoyment with a
balanced diet, and sound health. And that's why Nestlé offers
both a range of affordable and nutritious products,
and gourmet products that should be
consumed in moderation. But it's known in practice that some
of your consumers are heavy users - people who
eat excessively. Aren't these consumers
essentially addicted to your products? That's why we've been introducing
educational programs. So... But do you think
they're addicted? Addicted? No, I don't think so.
Not to Nestlé products, at least. Our products are not
developed with that in mind. We develop our products to
fit a balanced and healthy diet. ...Each manufacturer has its own
strategy for seducing our appetites. Michael Moss has no doubt that
the most vulnerable consumers are key to the food
giants' market success. In the sense of defining
the word addiction as being kind of this
repetitive behavior that some people
find difficult to quit, I think that absolutely
defines the business model of the processed
food industry. Spending every waking hour engineering
and marketing their products in a way that causes us not just to
love them, but to want more and more. So what action is
Switzerland taking? In 2020 the government stated
its opposition to the law in Mexico requiring food
manufacturers to declare excessive
levels of sugar, fat and salt. They do so using these
black warning labels. What prompted
Switzerland to get involved? Several dozen internal e-mails obtained
thanks to the country's freedom of information act show that Nestlé
has been approaching the government with its concerns. They
include this correspondence between the Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs and the State Secretariat
for Economic Affairs or SECO. "I was able to
speak with... who confirmed to me
the gravity of the problem and the urgent
need for action. Nestlé has approached
SECO directly to ask for the support
of Swiss officials. SECO refused our requests
for an interview - unlike Nestlé. We agreed with
the aim of the law, which was to decrease obesity
rates and help consumers eat healthy. What we didn't agree with was
the implementation of this law, because it doesn't help
consumers in their choices. The proposed labeling in
Mexico is merely an alarm system, and does not encourage
consumers to make better choices. But isn't an alert necessary
when 76% of the population is overweight
or obese? Absolutely. You're right: we need
to set up educational programs to reduce obesity
in the population, to help people make
better consumer choices. So: Nestlé wants to
create support programs? What is certain is
that the multinational wants to block any
statutory requirements. Among the messages sent by Nestlé
to the Swiss government is this memo: "The proposal... is too
radical and restrictive, and lacks
scientific rationale. ...The warning messages are susceptible
of creating unnecessary fear in consumers..." We showed the memo to
Mexico's deputy minister of health. My first response is to
laugh. But it's a tragic laugh. I laugh because of the rudeness
and stubbornness of the food industry - in this case, a very influential
multinational corporation. The companies have spent
many years developing this rhetoric. I'm not surprised to see them
trying to deceive the public, claiming that labelling
is not beneficial. Nestlé has now even improved the
formulas for a range of its products, in order to avoid the
dreaded black labels. It's understandable for
companies to protect their interests. But economic and
private interests cannot be placed
above the public interest. That's why we talk
about separating the economic interests
from political power. The political power
of a sovereign nation involves protecting, defending
and promoting public interests. And chief among those
interests is protecting children. Nathalie Farpour-Lambert
is a pediatrician who's spent decades
counseling overweight minors - helping them in their
struggle toward a healthier diet. In the past, we used to have
children who were slightly overweight in relation to their
age and height... But today, we have children
who are massively overweight - by 20 or 30
kilos or more. What upsets me the most is the fact
that children are being manipulated. They are victims of this food
system. They can't help it. Often, we blame the parents
for making the wrong choices and buying
unhealthy products. But it's extremely difficult for
them to make the right choice. The labelling isn't
always clear to everyone. We're violating the
human rights of children, and you have to ask
how far things will go. Are we willing to sacrifice
one or even two generations? For years now, I've been unable
to look strangers in the eye. I've suffered so much from
the mocking and the insults that I've retreated
into my own bubble. Sometimes I don't even think of myself
as a person. I'm just this ugly thing. What if you didn't
have your children? I'd have let myself go completely
and would have been dead years ago. I didn't love myself enough to find an
escape. I only did it for my children, because I love them and want
them to have a "normal" mother.
