ArticlePublic health nutrition2021
How food companies use social media to influence policy debates: a framework of Australian ultra-processed food industry Twitter data.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- How Does the Ultra-Processed Food Industry Drive Consumption Through Product Design and Marketing? Mapping a Complex Commercial System According to Expert Mental Models and Evidence Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Review
- Understandings of ultra-processed foods among adults with responsibility for household food activities in the United Kingdom: a qualitative study.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- A Content Analysis of Alcohol Marketing on Instagram: Examining Its Contribution to an Australian Aquatic Alcogenic Environment.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- 'We want beer': an analysis of online posts written about the alcohol ban during Qatar's soccer world cup.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2025Article
- The impact of the social media industry as a commercial determinant of health on the digital food environment for children and adolescents: a scoping review.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Editorial: Hunger, Food Sovereignty and Public Health.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Corporate activities that influence population health: a scoping review and qualitative synthesis to develop the HEALTH-CORP typology.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- Corporate social responsibility, policy framing and strategic marketing: understanding the alcohol industry's use of social media in Uganda.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- An Analysis of Arguments Advanced via Twitter in an Advocacy Campaign to Promote Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2023Article
- Typology of how 'harmful commodity industries' interact with local governments in England: a critical interpretive synthesis.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Measuring public opinion and acceptability of prevention policies: an integrative review and narrative synthesis of methods.Health research policy and systems · 2022Review
- Analysis of Content, Social Networks, and Sentiment of Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling in the European Union on Twitter.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Corporate political activity in the context of unhealthy food advertising restrictions across Transport for London: A qualitative case study.PLoS medicine · 2021Article
- A mixed-method analysis of the #SugarTax debate on Twitter.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- Big food and the World Health Organization: a qualitative study of industry attempts to influence global-level non-communicable disease policy.BMJ global health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo understand if, and how, Australian ultra-processed food industry actors use Twitter to influence food and health policy debates and produce a conceptual framework to describe such influence.
designTwitter data of prominent industry actors were defined through purposive sampling and inductively coded to investigate possible influence on food and health policy debates. These are described using descriptive statistics and coded extracts.
settingAustralia.
participantsTwitter accounts of nine prominent ultra-processed food industry actors, including major trade associations.
resultsUltra-processed food industry actors actively used Twitter to influence food and health policy debates. Seven overarching strategies were identified: co-opting public health narratives; opposing regulation; supporting voluntary, co- or self-regulation; engaging policy processes and decision-makers; linking regulatory environments to the need for ongoing profitability; affecting public perceptions and value judgements; and using ignorance claims to distort policy narratives. Each lobbying strategy is underpinned with tactics described throughout and captured in a framework.
conclusionsThe current study creates a framework to monitor how food industry actors can use social media to influence food and health policy debates. As such, social media appears to be not only an important commercial determinant of health for brand marketing, but also an extension of lobbying practices to reshape public perceptions of corporate conduct and policy-making.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.