The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health conducted an HIA to determine facilitators and barriers of a proposed food procurement policy in Los Angeles County. The proposed policy would require food purchasers, distributors, and vendors of food service to meet specified nutrition standards, including limits on sodium content. During stakeholder interviews, the HIA found 3 key facilitators: an organization’s authority to impose nutrition standards, an organization’s desire to provide nutritious food, and to opportunity to build on existing nutrition policies. The HIA also identified several barriers, including costs and availability of low-sodium foods and existing multi-year provider contracts that are difficult to change. The HIA recommended that further research be conducted in jurisdictions that have successfully implemented food procurement policies and to quantify their long-term health and economic effects on the targeted population.
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This Health Impact Assessment Report first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health. The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health was originally developed by the Health Impact Project, formerly a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The creation of this resource was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
