Involving risk creators? A legal analysis of public-private partnerships with the food industry as a response to tackle non-communicable diseases

This book examines public-private partnerships (PPPs) as an alternative regulatory tool for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), through a legal lens. It first outlines the scenario that enabled PPPs to emerge as an alternative to stricter regulation, then presents a definition of PPPs for NCD prevention within the broader taxonomy of PPP and global health PPP models. It then examines selected PPPs involving the food and beverage industries, focused on product reformulation, revealing an inherent conflict of interest between commercial and public health objectives. The book concludes by proposing two legal pathways: strengthening PPPs through contractual safeguards, and exploring «social denormalization» to drive stricter regulation and genuine NCD prevention.