--- title: Olivier De Schutter of United Nations Wants Junk Food Regulations description: U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter warned that obesity is a bigger global health threat than tobacco use, lamenting that it isn't taken as seriously as it should be canonical: https://time.com/104999/u-n-official-says-junk-food-just-as-bad-as-cigarettes/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-19T17:17:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:55:27.210Z article:section: Health og:title: UN Official: Governments Should Regulate Junk Food Like Tobacco og:description: U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter warned that obesity is a bigger global health threat than tobacco use, lamenting that it isn't taken as seriously as it should be og:url: https://time.com/104999/u-n-official-says-junk-food-just-as-bad-as-cigarettes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: UN Official: Governments Should Regulate Junk Food Like Tobacco twitter:description: U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter warned that obesity is a bigger global health threat than tobacco use, lamenting that it isn't taken as seriously as it should be twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # U.N. Official Says Junk Food Just as Bad as Cigarettes > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=f3955fc3-abb4-42ce-82ef-9182d773d583&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent May 19, 2014 5:17 PM UTC  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent May 19, 2014 5:17 PM UTC A United Nations official [called](http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14617&LangID=E) for greater regulation of unhealthy foods on Monday, saying junk food is just as bad for global health as tobacco. Olivier De Schutter, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said the world needs to come together to regulate diet. “Unhealthy diets are now a greater threat to global health than tobacco,” he said in a speech at the opening of the World Health Organization’s [annual summit](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/19/us-health-food-idUSKBN0DZ15H20140519). “Just as the world came together to regulate the risks of tobacco, a bold framework convention on adequate diets must now be agreed.” De Schutter voiced frustration that the world hasn’t taken obesity seriously enough. “It has been two years since my report on nutrition and the right to food, and ten years since the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Global Strategy on Diet Physical Activity and Health,” he said. “Yet obesity continues to advance—and diabetes, heart disease and other health complications along with it. The warning signs are not being heard.” The Special Rapporteur has previously agitated for greater governmental action on junk foods, including taxing unhealthy products, regulating fats and sugars, cracking down on advertising for junk food, and rethinking agricultural subsidies that make unhealthy food cheaper. “Governments have been focusing on increasing calorie availability,” he said, “but they have often been indifferent to what kind of calories are on offer, at what price, to whom they are made available, and how they are marketed.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/104999/u-n-official-says-junk-food-just-as-bad-as-cigarettes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/104999/u-n-official-says-junk-food-just-as-bad-as-cigarettes/"},"headline":"U.N. Official Says Junk Food Just as Bad as Cigarettes","datePublished":"2014-05-19T17:17:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:55:27.210Z","description":"U.N. 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