John,

Think back to your last trip to the grocery store…

Did you make an impulse buy -- something you hadn't planned on getting but saw on the way to the produce aisles or standing in line to checkout?

Now ask yourself this: Was your impulse buy a healthy choice?

In our latest Follow the Data podcast, "Secrets of the Retail Food Environment," we look at the deceptive strategies food and beverage companies use to influence decisions we make at the grocery store -- often to encourage impulse buys. We also talk about how these practices are being addressed, and hear how some California communities fought for local policy changes to replace prominently placed junk food with healthier choices.

As rates of obesity and diet-related disease continue to rise around the world, producers of candies, sugary drinks, and other unhealthy foods spend millions of dollars each year to put their products front-and-center for shoppers. Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting policy efforts that encourage healthier diets, including efforts to raise public awareness of unhealthy food and beverage marketing.

In "Secrets of the Retail Food Environment," Kristine Momanyi from our public health team sits down with Sara John, the Senior Policy Director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Ingrid de Santiago, the Program Coordinator at Bay Area Community Resources; and Anjelika Khadka, a youth advocate at Bay Area Community Resources. They share their success stories from efforts to combat deceptive marketing practices, and to create healthy local food policies.

Listen today, before your next trip to the grocery store:

https://www.bloomberg.org/blog/follow-the-data-podcast-secrets-of-the-retail-food-environment/

Thanks,

Follow the Data
Bloomberg Philanthropies

PS -- Looking for great discussions on climate change and art, growing resilient coral reefs, the history of film and more? Check out our new Podcasts page: https://www.bloomberg.org/podcasts/