Many of the major food companies are failing to properly address the global diet crisis, a report has claimed.
The stury found that the response of most companies to World Health Organisation guidelines on fighting obesity, cancer and heart disease was "lukewarm".
Most firms appeared not to care "a jot", the report by London's City University suggested.
It said the WHO guidelines had placed new demands on food firms, such as promoting healthy diets, improving products' nutritional quality and practising responsible marketing.
Measuring performance against these, the report found that retailers came out as the worst performers, while manufacturers, who have been under attack for selling fatty, salty and sugary foods showed the most activity to deal with problems.
The authors told the BBC: "The findings of this report suggest that the world's food companies are not yet fully engaged with the seriousness and urgency of this transformation.
"Companies should be wary about doing the minimum or presenting a few hurried initiatives in self-promotional terms.
"A lukewarm response from food companies to the enormity of the public health evidence amassed by the WHO and researchers risks engendering some cynicism."
The research looked at the annual reports, accounts and websites of the top 10 food manufacturers, top 10 food retailers and top five foodservice firms.
It found that even though 23 out of 25 firms stated aims on corporate social responsibilities, less than half made a reference to health in these, and just 11 out of 25 had policy statements on obesity or children's food, or had a commitment on having a healthier range of products.
On the three critical nutrients for health, only 10 reported action on reducing salt, five on sugar and four on fats.
McDonald's, which has been a high profile firm in the debate on diet and health reported no commitments other than on portion size, the report said.
Research leader, Professor Tim Lang, said he was surprised by the findings. “These are sophisticated, very powerful companies. I thought they would see the benefits of a positive health profile."
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