Food & Beverage Industry Activities That Influence Population Health: Development of the HEALTH-CORP-FB Typology

Commercial activities (eg, lobbying, water extraction) have important implications for population health and health equity. Identifying these activities can inform public health policy, practice, and surveillance. The aims of this study were to adapt a cross-industry typology of corporate activities (the HEALTH-CORP typology) to the Food & Beverage (F&B) industry and identify expert-informed measurement priorities for this industry. Activities within the HEALTH-CORP typology are categorized into domains of corporate influence (eg, political practices, environmental practices). Health experts (n = 22) rated the importance of measuring each domain on a 4-point scale (from 'not important' (0) to 'very important' (3)) and provided written feedback to guide the adaptation. We used qualitative and non-parametric quantitative techniques (eg, Mann-Whitney U tests) to analyze and implement participants' feedback. The domain political practices received the highest mean importance rating (M = 2.95, IQR = 0); employment practices received the lowest (M = 2.14, IQR = 2). Ratings for some domains differed by whether experts reported employment in low-and-middle income countries. The resulting HEALTH-CORP-FB typology contains 89 F&B industry activities (eg, profiteering, child-appealing packaging). The typology provides a resource for policy makers and other stakeholders and the findings lend insight into measurement and monitoring priorities for this industry.