O-72 Business Power and Sugar: A qualitative exploration of power in NCD policymaking on sugar as a dietary risk factor for health in Trinidad and Tobago
Author(s):
B Zenz, P Jackson, B Gibson
Year of Presentation:
2025
Conclusion: The insights gained on power dynamics from
such a policy debate draw urgent attention to important
issues resulting from corporate power and health policymaking, which detrimentally affect the health and high
NCD prevalence in the population of Trinidad and Tobago.
Methods: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 26 stakeholders from industry, third sector and government were conducted in 2022. The data was thematically analysed using Fuchs and Lederer’s theory-driven, threedimensional framework of business power, which offers a systematic account of how corporations and other actors exert and respond to power within a policy debate.
Results: Stakeholder interviews highlighted how power was perceived to operate by all actors and impacted on their views and acceptability of different public health intervention methods to reduce dietary risk factors for NCDs in Trinidad and Tobago. All three forms of instrumental, structural and discursive power were evident in the data, which were applied by different actors who exerted influence in the health decision-making process on sugar as a dietary risk factor for NCDs in Trinidad and Tobago. This was most obvious in stakeholder discussions on industry influence affecting the outcome of policies including Front of Pack Warning Labels (FOPWL), reformulation as means to reduce high sugar content in, and taxation on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
Conclusion: The insights gained on power dynamics from such a policy debate draw urgent attention to important issues resulting from corporate power and health policymaking, which detrimentally affect the health and high NCD prevalence in the population of Trinidad and Tobago.