Alignment of Food Policies and Cardiovascular Disease Burden: Insights from the Literature

This narrative review aims to synthesize global literature on existing food policies relevant to cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and assess their alignment with global CVD burden.

Mandatory food reformulation policies, particularly industrial trans-fat elimination and sodium reduction targets, demonstrate the strongest and most consistent impacts on population dietary risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes. Fiscal measures, notably sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, are associated with reduced purchases, product reformulation, and potential cardiometabolic benefits, though implementation remains uneven. Marketing restrictions-largely focused on children-and front-of-pack labelling can reduce exposure to unhealthy foods and improve nutritional visibility, but their effectiveness varies by regulatory strength, enforcement, and context. Across all policy domains, adoption and evaluation remain limited in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite strong evidence supporting food policies as effective tools for CVD prevention, substantial gaps persist in coverage, enforcement, and alignment with global disease burden. Regions with rapidly rising CVD rates continue to lack comprehensive, mandatory policies. Integrated policy packages combining reformulation, fiscal measures, marketing regulation, and labelling are likely required to achieve equitable and sustained reductions in cardiovascular risk.