Title: The labelling of ultra-processed foods, 'ideological biases' and 'false consciousness': a historical narrative of the experience in Colombia

Authors: Rubén Méndez Reátegui; Juliana Castellanos Díaz

Addresses: Universidad Autonoma de Chile (UA), Av. Pedro de Valdivia 425, Providencia, Región Metropolitana, Chile; Universidad Tecnológica del Perú (UTP), Av. Arequipa 265, Cercado de Lima 15046, Peru ' Institucion Universitaria Politecnico Grancolombiano, Cl. 57 #3-00 este, Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract: While COVID-19 attacked people with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, among other non-communicable diseases, the former Colombian government was betting on implementing a value-added tax (VAT) on the cost of production for food for the family basket (Paladines and Castellanos, 2021a, 2021c, 2021d, 2021e). It was added to a scenario of institutional weakness, evidenced by a social context ruled by a legal architecture showing a lack of positive and structural impact in the protection of the right to health, safeguarding the sovereignty of the consumer, and in short, in satisfying the general interest of a population immersed in a background of false consciousness, scenarios of sub-optimal choice and the prevalence of ideological and cognitive bias. Moreover, this article proposes a historical account if we consider the recent changes in the Colombian normative-regulatory model in the labelling of ultra-processed foods before the approval of a new regulation and agenda in December 2022.

Keywords: ultra-processed foods; false consciousness; ideological and cognitive biases; law and journalism; Colombia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2024.137782

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2024 Vol.10 No.2, pp.174 - 189

Received: 13 Dec 2022
Accepted: 07 Jan 2023
Published online: 05 Apr 2024 *

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