The Economist this week reported an announcement from the Chief Exec of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, that the company would be taking measures to make their products healthier. PepsiCo are to reduce sugar in their drinks and saturated fat in their food and will also aim to remove their sugary drinks from schools around the world by 2012. The move is part of a broader strategy which has seen PepsiCo widen their range of what they call “good for you” products in addition to what they prefer to call “fun for you” products – ie products heavy on salt, sugar and saturated fat - on which the company’s success was built. For Nooyi, this is the only way that food companies can avoid the fate of the tobacco companies who are blamed by governments for the prevalence of morbidity and mortality related to smoking.

It is unclear whether this announcement from PepsiCo represents solely an ethical concern for the public health of an increasingly obese population or whether the move has more commercial concerns at its heart. That obesity represents a major public health threat though is not in doubt. According to research published in February, 80% of men and almost 70% of women in the UK will be overweight by 2020. Any move to make junk food products healthier or to produce healthier foods is therefore welcome, irrespective of the motivations behind them.

Given the opprobrium that tobacco companies face and the government penalties and restrictions on their business practices to prevent harms from smoking, it is unsurprising that food companies would want to avoid similar consequences from an association with obesity. Is it justified though to compare companies that produce “junk food” with tobacco companies with respect to public health?