Government’s Legal Authority to Regulate Food-Industry Practices

September 21, 2012 - The importance of obesity as a public health concern has led to many proposed policy solutions that have stirred up controversy and opposition from the food industry. [Governments have the legal authority to regulate food-industry practices](http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/law/Government_Legal_Authority_to_Regulate_NEJM_9.12.pdf) despite legal challenges threatened or launched by industry, according to the Rudd Center's Jennifer Pomeranz, JD, MPH, Director of Legal Initiatives, and Kelly Brownell, PhD, Director, in a "Perspective" piece published in the _New England Journal of Medicine._

Using New York City's sugar-sweetened beverage serving size restriction as an example, Pomeranz and Brownell discussed the challenges made by the food industry against government regulation and the lack of sound legal basis for their opposition.

URL: http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/governments-legal-authority-to-regulate-food-industry-practices