Lethal But Legal: Corporations, Consumption, and Protecting Public Health

by Nicholas Freudenberg

Decisions made by the food, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical, gun, and automobile industries have a greater impact on today's health than the decisions of scientists and policymakers. As the collective influence of corporations has grown, governments around the world have stepped back from their responsibility to protect public health by privatizing key services, weakening regulations, and cutting funding for consumer and environmental protection. Today's corporations are increasingly free to make decisions that benefit their bottom line at the expense of public health.

Lethal but Legal examines how corporations have impacted -- and plagued -- public health over the last century, first in industrialized countries and now in developing regions. It is both a current history of corporations' antagonism towards health and an analysis of the emerging movements that are challenging these industries' dangerous practices. The reforms outlined here aim to strike a healthier balance between large companies' right to make a profit and governments' responsibility to protect their populations.

While other books have addressed parts of this story, Lethal but Legal is the first to connect the dots between unhealthy products, business-dominated politics, and the growing burdens of disease and health care costs. By identifying the common causes of all these problems, then situating them in the context of other health challenges that societies have overcome in the past, this book provides readers with the insights they need to take practical and effective action to restore consumers' right to health.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Health, Politics, Medicine, Journalism, History

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Nicholas Freudenberg is Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the City University of New York School of Public Health. For more than 30 years, he has worked with community groups, public agencies and others to create programs and policies that improve community health and reduce health inequalities. He is also co-director of the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College. His 2014 book Lethal but Legal, published by Oxford University Press,describes how corporations contribute to global epidemics of chronic diseases and injuries and how activists and health professionals can take action to change health-damaging corporate practices

Reviews

[Richard]

From the New York Times:

In the last few years, it’s become increasingly clear that food companies engineer hyperprocessed foods in ways precisely geared to most appeal to our tastes. This technologically advanced engineering is done, of course, with the goal of maximizing profits, regardless of the effects of the resulting foods on consumer health, natural resources, the environment or anything else.

But the issues go way beyond food, as the City University of New York professor Nicholas Freudenberg discusses in his new book, “Lethal but Legal: Corporations, Consumption, and Protecting Public Health.” Freudenberg’s case is that the food industry is but one example of the threat to public health posed by what he calls “the corporate consumption complex,” an alliance of corporations, banks, marketers and others that essentially promote and benefit from unhealthy lifestyles.

Read the rest at Mark Bittmam's Op-Ed at Rethinking Our ‘Rights’ to Dangerous Behaviors.

[Du · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always a bit painful to read about things you know are bad for you and yet you also know that you do the stupid thing like eat/drink/support the habit forming corporation.

That said, just like Supersize Me, and other exposures this is a thought provoking and intelligent book that we should all read once a month. It is so startling how much corporations get away with in the name of public need and good. Disgusting, really. The book itself is a well written look at the fast food, alcohol and tobacco industries and how they treat consumers.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was at times difficult to get through, but it was extremely well-researched and provided a very good look at: a) how corporations have undermined public health, b) what has been done to combat this (covering both what worked and what didn't), and c) how to forge a path toward protecting public health using a combination of tactics. This last section is the part that so many similar books are missing, so I appreciated Freudenberg's effort to cover it in detail.

[Elizabeth Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently won a copy of this book in a contest. I would love to write a review of this book, but unfortunately, I never received my copy.

[Margherita Melillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is widely considered foundational for anyone interested in what are now called "commercial determinants of health". Nick Freudenberg did not coin the term, but he made a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of how corporations affect public health.

The book focuses on 6 industries: food, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical, automobile, guns. This is an interesting choice that represents a middle ground between those who like me focus on the determinants of non-communicable diseases (food, alcohol, tobacco), and those who rightly contend that the corporations that affect public health are many more, and include the fossil fuel industry, the health care industry, the gambling industry, etc. This choice in a way makes the arguments of the book less homogeneous, but on the other hand, it is great because it shows the broader impact that corporations can have on public health.

I guess I read this book too late in my exploration of the topic to be enthusiastic about it, but for those who have little knowledge of the topic, it's a great start.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, factual low-down on the 6 biggest industries in America: food, gun, automobile, tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical. By no means is this a "jump in and read for 6 hours straight." It's packed with research, history and facts, and it is in-depth and sometimes meandering. It took me over a month to plow through, reading a few pages a day. But if you're serious about learning every mind-blowing fact about these industries, you absolutely must read. If you're interested and passionate about public health, YOU MUST READ. If you need a place to start learning about corruption in America's biggest corporations, and how that affects the individual and communities, then this is a perfect place to start. It's not even a book about learning, it's a book about un-learning. Fascinating information organized in a cohesive, digestible manner. Kudos to the editor, as well.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another read for school. This is a detailed overview of the ways that corporations impact health, focusing specifically on industries like food, substance use (alcohol/tobacco), automobiles, and guns. It's not just about the products they sell, but how the corporations exert influence on the individual and community level to sell those products-- usually, at the expense of health. Can we be optimistic about change? Yes, thanks to the success stories and advocacy frameworks described in this book.

[Nate Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good information on corporate practices in public health and health policy. Dragged at times, he throws a lot of numbers at you. He’s at his best talking about the food industry. Got soc dem vibes but I can appreciate his optimism for movement success going forward. I’d be interested to hear his 2025 takes. Might read his 2021 book too but if the sentence structure and grammatical errors don’t get better I’m crashing out.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really up and down. Would give 3.5/5. Some pets very interesting and eye-opening but other segments superficial and informational only.

[Jan Jaap]

https://www.lemniscaat.nl/boeken/lega... bookpagina
https://www.lemniscaat.nl/files/fm978... pdf 25 p. inkijkfragment
https://www.managementboek.nl/boek/97... specs

ISBN: 9789047709480 | Uitvoering: Paperback | Prijs: € 24,99 , 388 p.
Vertaler(s): Sonja Matthews-Marrevee
Hoe de grote industrieen onze gezondheid bedreigen

Nicholas Freudenberg, hoogleraar Public Health in New York, is de eerste die ongezonde producten, tekortschietende overheden en de groeiende druk op de gezondheidszorg met elkaar verbindt in een veelomvattend boek. En dat levert een schokkend beeld op. De industrieën die alcohol, auto’s, wapens, voeding, medicijnen en tabak produceren hebben veel meer impact op de volksgezondheid dan beleidsmakers en wetenschappers. De manier waarop de industrieën in verschillende sectoren opereren, blijkt verrassende overeenkomsten te vertonen. Vrijwel altijd is hun beleid gericht op het omzeilen, ontkrachten of tegenhouden van overheidsmaatregelen die de verkoop van hun eigen producten zouden kunnen belemmeren. En dat met zeer schadelijke gevolgen voor de volksgezondheid. En de overheid? Die is vooral gevoelig voor de wensen van de industrieën en blijkt niet in staat om haar burgers effectief te beschermen tegen het op de markt brengen van ronduit schadelijke producten.

Nicholas Freudenberg is hoogleraar Public Health in New York en oprichter en directeur van Corporations and Health Watch (www.corporationsandhealth.org), een internationaal netwerk van activisten en onderzoekers dat de bedrijfspraktijken in de gaten houdt van de grote industrieën die alcohol, auto’s, vuurwapens, voeding, medicijnen en tabak produceren.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important topic.
Apparently accurate information.
Unfortunately somewhat of a chore to read.
Like a list of bullet points.
Covering many topics without much depth: e.g., tobacco corporations are bad, okay.
Useful as a reference.
Has some encouraging stories at the end; that's nice.


Corporations put profits before public health. But that doesn't seem like news. I wish the author had summed up the problem much more briefly and spent more time on the solutions. In his recommendations, he notes that it is important to make things personal. Unfortunately, he fails to do that himself in his writing, referring to his heroes without even naming them, let alone giving the stories of their struggles. I'm the last one to advocate for all non-fiction to be written like a novel, but this is at the opposite extreme of being almost a textbook.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many new things in this book, but confirmation on what one may intuitively know: that he ho has the most money is he who rules the world. Sadly, it happens once an over and over again. :-(

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

highly uneven — vacillates between insightful and compelling arguments and one-sided arguments that reach well beyond the evidence provided.

[Mills College Library]

362.1 F8894 2014