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Mar 2021
17m 58s

Has the food industry made Covid worse?

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Obesity is a major factor in which countries have the worst Covid-19 death rates, a new report suggests. So could this be a moment of reckoning for food and beverage businesses?

Manuela Saragosa hears from John Wilding, president of the World Obesity Federation, which produced the report. She asks Kate Halliwell, chief scientific officer of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation, what responsibility the industry bears. Sophie Lawrence of fund managers Rathbone Greenbank explains how important obesity is to investors in food and drink companies. Plus, a Covid survivor who was morbidly obese when he went into hospital in March last year, and spent seven weeks in an induced coma, tells us how he has now dramatically changed his lifestyle.

Producers: Laurence Knight, Benjie Guy

(Photo: A tray of fast food - a burger, fries and a drink. Credit: Getty Images)

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