“Unhealthy food and its consumption constitute the most serious risk to human health globally, even greater than the increasingly stringent regulations on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products. “Therefore, a convention on adequate nutrition must be agreed in all states,” said Belgian professor Olivier de Schutter in a statement issued at the World Health Organization summit.

According to Schutter, the incidence of global obesity is so serious that, in addition to regulating the sale of tobacco products, a food treaty should be drawn up that includes “a tax on unhealthy products, regulating the sale of foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar”, and also according to him, the need for a crackdown on junk advertising food.

The statement also said that agricultural subsidies must be overhauled so that local producers and farmers have the means to produce healthy crops so that only healthy, fresh and nutritious food reaches consumers, FoxNews reported.

Schutter argues that efforts to promote better nutrition and the global fight against obesity will only be successful if appropriate food systems are in place to regulate supply to consumers.

“There are efforts to make the public aware of the need for calorie counting, but they no longer address what calories are, how much each product costs, for whom more or less calorie foods are available, and how those foods are marketed,” the report states.

It also emphasizes the need to protect society from “aggressive disinformation campaigns” that influence many people in what they consume.

The report was released on Monday 19 May by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).