In an effort to increase access to nutritious products and positively exercise their influence on consumer choice and behavior, the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers must do more, according to the first edition of the global Access To Nutrition Index (ATNI) report and rankings, which was founded on the premise that food and beverage manufacturers can make a strong contribution to addressing poor nutrition and related diseases.
 
The Index measures the nutrition-related commitments, performance and disclosure practices of 25 of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers as measured against international guidelines, norms and accepted best practices. It underscores the important role of food and beverage manufacturers in addressing obesity and under-nutrition, both of which rank among the world’s most pressing public health concerns. It also provides an objective picture of what companies are already doing, where they can improve, and highlights good practices across the industry.
 
The three-year initiative was funded by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. The Index creation involved an extensive, multi-stakeholder process that included input from governments, international organizations, civil society, academia and investors at every phase of the process. It was also guided by advice from an independent, multi-stakeholder advisory panel and a group of experts on nutrition.
 
“The Access to Nutrition Index offers companies a comprehensive, independent assessment of how well their practices align with competitors in the food and beverage industry and provides benchmarks against which they can improve their approach to nutrition,” said Keith Bezanson, chair, ATNI Independent Advisory Panel. “The aim is to promote a more objective public debate and encourage companies to do more to address nutritional needs of customers.”
 
“Obesity and under-nutrition affect billions of people and threaten a global health catastrophe. The Access To Nutrition Index is an urgent call to action for food and beverage manufacturers to integrate improved nutrition into their business strategies. It is not only good for public health; it is a business imperative and key to their long-term sustainability,” said Inge Kauer, executive director of ATNI.
 
Development of ATNI was housed at GAIN and company research and assessments were conducted by MSCI ESG Research using publicly available documents supplemented by additional information requested from each company.
 
Danone, Unilever and Nestlé were ranked as the top performers on the ATNI, receiving the highest scores on both the obesity and under-nutrition rankings. But the creators found that even the top performers had significant room for improvement with the highest score being 6.3 on a 10.0 point scale.

Both Danone and Nestlé were found to be in violation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, which affected their scores. The ATNI recommended that both companies, along with other breast-milk substitute manufacturers, take immediate action to ensure full compliance with the International Code.
 
“The capacities of the global food industry are not being harnessed effectively in tackling malnutrition. The Index aims to engage companies around the opportunities to make more nutritious, affordable foods available for consumers, especially the poorest,” said Marc Van Ameringen, executive director, GAIN.
 
Thirty-nine investment organizations, which collectively manage more than $2.6 trillion in assets, signed a statement of support for the Index. The ATNI Investor Statement recognizes health and nutrition as drivers of future growth in the food and beverage sector, and that those manufacturers that are most effective in anticipating and responding to these factors will be better positioned to deliver superior and more sustained financial performance.
 
Later this year, ATNI will publish three Spotlight Indexes assessing 10 of the largest food and beverage manufacturers operating in India, Mexico and South Africa, respectively. The ATNI Global Index will then be published every two years in order to track and encourage improvements in companies’ nutrition-related practices over time. As part of that process, the company assessment methodology will be updated for each future edition of ATNI to reflect advances in the state of nutrition knowledge, emerging consensus on good corporate practices, new guidelines and policies, and changes in the expectations of stakeholders.