Food Policy Glossary Food Policy Glossary
Food Environment and Influences
Food Environment
The contexts in which people make decisions about buying, preparing and eating food. These environments represent the interface between consumers’ acquisition and consumption of food and the wider food system, shaped by availability, accessibility, affordability, convenience, marketing and food properties.
Food and Beverage Industry
Commercial entities involved in the production, processing and distribution of foods and beverages, including businesses that service the industry and entities representing its interests, such as trade associations. The industry is dominated by large corporations producing ultra-processed products, shaping global food systems and affecting public health.food and beverage industry: UNICEF guidance for programmes and partnerships. New York: UNICEF; 2026.'>
Commercial Interests
The financial and market-related priorities of a company or industry that drive corporate decisions, including lobbying, research funding and marketing, in ways that come into tension with public health goals.
Commercial Determinants of Health
Private sector activities that shape people’s environments and affect their health, directly or indirectly. This includes the strategies and approaches the private sector uses to promote products and behaviors that are detrimental to health, encompassing not just marketing and sales, but the wider systems and practices, including political activity, through which commercial actors shape health and health inequity.
Conflict of Interest
Situations where financial, commercial or other forms of interests may compromise, or appear to compromise, the objectivity and independence of nutrition policy, research or programs.
Food and Beverage Industry Interference
Actions by the food and beverage industry to influence nutrition policies and research in ways that prioritize corporate profits over public health, including lobbying, funding biased research, promoting weaker voluntary measures and using legal challenges to block health-protective regulations.
Front Groups
Organizations that claim independence but are formed, funded or controlled by industry to advance corporate interests while hiding industry ties, opposing health regulations and undermining evidence-based policymaking.
Food Categories and Impacts
Diet-Related Noncommunicable Diseases
Chronic, potentially life-threatening conditions including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers linked to unhealthy diets, particularly high consumption of ultra-processed products.
Ultra-Processed Products
Unlike foods simply modified by cooking or added ingredients, ultra-processed products are industrially manufactured using cheap, heavily refined ingredients and additives to heighten appeal and extend shelf life. Heavily branded and aggressively marketed, these products tend to be high in calories, sugars, refined starches, saturated and trans fats and sodium. Growing evidence also points to the addictive qualities of certain ultra-processed products, as manufacturers intentionally engineer them to maximize consumption. High consumption is associated with health harms including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. Common examples include packaged chips, cookies, instant noodles, ready-to-eat meals, candy and soft drinks.
Food Processing
Methods that alter food from its natural state, ranging from preservation techniques such as drying and freezing, to processes like canning or adding ingredients such as salt, sugar, fat and additives to extend shelf life and enhance appeal.
Whole Foods
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods in their natural or near-natural state, retaining original nutrients without added salt, sugar, oils or other substances. Examples include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, unprocessed meats and nuts.
Nutrient Profile Model
A scientific tool that classifies foods and beverages based on their nutritional composition, identifying products that are excess in nutrients and ingredients of concern (sugar, sodium, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, nonsugar sweeteners). These models provide the evidence-based foundation for implementing nutrition policies such as front-of-package warning labels, marketing restrictions, school food regulations and taxation policies.
NOVA Classification System
A system developed by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (Monteiro et al., 2010) to categorize foods into one of four groups according to the extent and purpose of industrial processing: (1) unprocessed or minimally processed foods, (2) processed culinary ingredients, (3) processed foods and (4) ultra-processed foods.
Nonsugar Sweetener(s)
Synthetic or natural low/no-calorie alternatives to free sugar (e.g., aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia) that provide sweetness without nutritional value. WHO advises against their use due to lack of long-term benefits and potential health concerns.
Product Reformulation
Changes to the processing or nutritional composition of food and beverage products to reduce nutrients or ingredients of concern (sugar, sodium, saturated fat), often in response to policies like taxes and front-of-package labels. However, these “nutrients-to-limit” are typically replaced with other processed ingredients and additives, such as nonsugar sweeteners, rather than whole foods, meaning reformulated products usually remain highly processed and fail to contribute to a healthy diet.
Culturally Appropriate Foods
Food that corresponds to the cultural traditions, values and preferences of individuals and communities, taking into account values and cultural practices around food preparation and consumption, in line with the right to adequate food.
Malnutrition
Inadequate, excessive or imbalanced nutrient and energy intake, encompassing undernutrition, overnutrition (obesity and overweight) and micronutrient deficiencies—often occurring simultaneously.
Undernutrition
Inadequate nutrition from lack of food or failure of the body to absorb or assimilate nutrients properly, manifesting as wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low height-for-age), underweight (low weight-for-age) and micronutrient deficiencies, impairing physical and cognitive development.
Overnutrition/Obesity and overweight
Excessive intake of energy and nutrients leading to overweight and obesity, increasing risk for diet-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.
Micronutrient Deficiencies
Lack of essential vitamins and minerals (particularly vitamin A, iron and iodine) required for normal growth, development and physiological functions, increasing risk of disease and impaired physical and cognitive development.
Stunting
Low height-for-age from chronic undernutrition, associated with poverty, poor maternal health, frequent illness and inadequate feeding, impairing children’s physical and cognitive development.
Wasting
Low weight-for-height in children, indicating acute undernutrition from recent and severe weight loss due to insufficient food intake and/or infectious disease. Associated with weakened immunity and increased mortality risk.
Policy-Specific Language
WHO Best Buy
WHO designation for highly cost-effective interventions that reduce noncommunicable diseases, defined as costing ≤ I$100 (international dollars) per healthy life year gained in low- and middle-income countries. Best Buys are feasible to implement and have significant health impact.
Front-of-Package Labels
Front-of-package information indicating nutritional content to give consumers simplified, at-a-glance information that supports informed purchasing decisions, using formats like warning labels for products high in nutrients or ingredients of concern.
Back-of-Package Labels
Detailed nutritional information on back or side panels of products, including nutrition facts tables. This type of labeling tends to be difficult for consumers to understand since it requires nutrition knowledge.
Summary Indicator Systems
Front-of-package labels providing a single overall rating of nutritional quality using symbols, letters or colors. Examples include Health Star Rating and Nutri-Score. These types of system may be less effective than nutrient-specific systems—warning labels in particular—because they may rate unhealthy ultra-processed products favorably and fail to clearly identify products to avoid.
Nutrient-Specific Labeling Systems
Front-of-package labels displaying information about individual nutrients of concern (e.g., sugar, sodium, saturated fat) rather than overall ratings. Can be interpretive (with color coding or warning symbols) or non-interpretive (numerical only). This type of label allows consumers to identify specific problematic nutrients.
Front-of-Package Warning Labels/Mandatory Warning Labels
Government-required front-of-package symbols warning consumers when products exceed thresholds for nutrients of concern (sugar, sodium, saturated fat) or contain ingredients linked to health risks (nonsugar sweetener), designed to inform purchasing decisions and discourage consumption of disease-promoting products.
Non-Interpretive Labeling Systems
Front-of-package labels presenting nutritional data (grams, percentages) without guidance, color coding or symbols to indicate healthfulness. Examples include Global Daily Amount labels. These systems require nutrition knowledge and consumer interpretation, making them less effective than interpretive systems.
Interpretive Labeling Systems
Front-of-package labels that use colors, symbols or words to interpret a product’s nutritional quality. Examples include warning labels and traffic light labels. Interpretive systems perform better than non-interpretive systems since they guide consumers to understand product healthfulness.
Food and Beverage Marketing
A form of commercial communication, message or action—including advertising, packaging, sponsorships and celebrity/cartoon endorsements—that promotes food and beverage products, predominantly unhealthy items that are often targeted at children. This influences dietary choices and increases risk of diet-related chronic diseases.
Restrictions on Food and Beverage Marketing
Policies that limit or prohibit marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages across channels (e.g., broadcast, digital) and techniques (e.g., sponsorship, product packaging). These restrictions can protect consumers, and especially children, from persuasive tactics that promote unhealthy dietary choices and poor health outcomes.
School Nutrition Guidelines/Standards
Standards that establish nutritional requirements for foods and beverages available in or around schools. They should limit ultra-processed products high in nutrients or ingredients of concern (sugar, sodium, saturated fat, nonsugar sweetener), while promoting nutritious options to protect children’s health and establish healthy eating habits.
Healthier School Food Environments
School settings where nutrition policies—including marketing restrictions and nutrition guidelines—promote access to nutritious foods while limiting unhealthy products, protecting children’s health and fostering healthy eating habits.
Public Food Procurement (Schools)
The process by which governments use their purchasing power to buy food for food school meal programs as a policy tool to improve children’s nutrition outcomes, support local food systems and promote sustainable development.
Smallholder Farmers
Farmers managing smaller areas of land and crops, with more limited resources relative to others in the sector. Smallholder farmers play a crucial role in local production of nutritious food and contribute to sustainable food and nutrition security, particularly in lower-income countries.
Public Food Procurement
The process by which governments use their purchasing power to buy food for public institutions—including schools, hospitals, prisons, universities and other public programs—as a policy tool to improve nutrition outcomes, support local food systems and promote sustainable development.
Health Taxes
Taxes on non-essential, health-harming products including tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed products. These taxes discourage consumption to reduce disease burden and generate revenue that can support public health initiatives.
Sweetened Beverage Tax
A tax on drinks with sugars or nonsugar sweeteners (sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened teas, fruit drinks) to reduce consumption and associated health risks.
Tax on Foods High in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS)/Ultra-Processed Products
A tax on products high in saturated fat, sodium, and/or added sugars —such as packaged snacks, instant meals, processed meats and sweets—designed to discourage consumption of nutritionally poor products and curb disease risk. These products are often ultra-processed, meaning they are industrially manufactured with additives, preservatives and artificial ingredients.