Insurance companies could mitigate the harms of fast food, the researchers say. (CBC)

Life and health insurance companies, including two Canadian giants, have invested nearly $2 billion in the fast food industry, a practice that raises questions about putting profits above health, researchers say.

U.S., Canadian and European-based insurance firms hold at least $1.88 billion of investments in the five leading fast food companies, the team reported in Thursday's online issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

"Although fast food can be consumed responsibly, the marketing and sale of products by fast food companies is done in a manner that undermines public health," study author Dr. Arun Mohan and his co-authors concluded. He is with the Cambridge Health Alliance, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Fast food consumption has been linked to obesity and cardiovascular disease.

The two Canadian-based insurers in the report were Sun Life and Manulife, which offer life, health, disability and long-term care insurance.

Sun Life owned almost $27 million of stock in Yum! Brands, owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, the researchers said.

Manulife owns $146.1 million in fast food stock, including a $89.1 million stake in McDonald's, according to the study.

Among the largest owners of fast-food stock were U.S.-based Prudential Financial, Northwestern Mutual and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Holland-based ING.

The other fast food holdings included in the report were Jack in the Box, Burger King and Wendy's/Arby's Group.

Corporate responsibility

"Our data illustrate the extent to which the insurance industry seeks to turn a profit above all else," Dr. Wesley Boyd, senior author of the study, said in a release. "Safeguarding people's health and well-being take a back seat to making money."

Health reforms proposed in the U.S. would likely expand the reach of the insurance industry, and Canada and Britain are also considering further privatization of health insurance, the study's authors said.

"Our article highlights the tension between profit maximization and the public good these countries face in expanding the role of private health insurers," the team wrote. "If insurers are to play a greater part in the health care delivery system, they ought to be held to a higher standard of corporate responsibility."

Investing in companies whose products undermine health while selling life or health insurance may seem inconsistent, the authors said.

The authors said that from their perspective, insurance companies have two options:

• Divest their holdings in fast food companies and other industries that clearly have negative public health impact.
• Mitigate the harms of fast food by leveraging their position as owners of fast food companies to force higher nutritional quality, reduce calorie density, serve smaller portions and change marketing practices.

The authors also proposed several explanations for the investment practices:

• Net profitability — return on investment in fast food companies more than offsets potential financial liability associated with policyholders consuming fast food.
• Insurers are unaware of the social impact of their investment given that little attention has been paid to this historically.
• Insurers are large organizations, where one division such as claims and underwriting may be unaware of the activities of the investments division.
• Larger investment companies may have subsidiaries, and the parent company has little oversight on the subsidiaries' investments.

The researchers accessed the stock prices and market capitalization data on June 11, 2009. The age of asset data is unknown and holdings may have changed.

Several of the researchers, all of whom are affiliated with Physicians for a National Health Program, have previously published data about the extent to which the insurance industry is invested in tobacco.