Lancet report blames 'Big Food' firms for fuelling obesity, climate change

Group calls for excluding food industry from policy formation

Big Food is portrayed as the new Big Tobacco in a sweeping report that links the industry’s influence to a global obesity epidemic, along with malnutrition and climate change.

The Lancet Commission on Obesity blamed a growth-focused sector for a system that gorges populations on empty calories while misusing land, energy and other resources. Without naming companies, the report released late Sunday called for restricting the industry -- led by multinationals such as Nestle SA, McDonald’s Corp. and Coca-Cola Co. -- from policy-related discussions.

Three years in the making, the report echoed past indictments of sectors such as tobacco, alcohol, energy and