Do corporations actually have more control over your health than you?

The aisles seem to go on forever as you push your shopping trolley towards the cereal section. You arrive, only to be met with an anxiety-inducing dilemma: do you buy the granola with low sugar or the one that is fortified with protein and vitamins? Or maybe the one with those delicious little chocolate chunks?

The supermarket can be mildly overwhelming, but at least there is no shortage of consumer choice. It seems that we are in control of the food we eat and the lifestyles we lead. We can make decisions that lead us towards better health, or we can take measured risks – after all, what would life be without a little chocolate now and again?

Health scientist Tracey Woodruff begs to differ. While a researcher at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she witnessed the tactics that corporations use to hide the harms caused by their products – and to skew evidence about their potential benefits. What’s more, some of these products have contributed to a rising tide of toxic pollutants in our environment that is impossible for even the savviest consumer to avoid.

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In February, Woodruff became the founding director at the University of California San Francisco’s (USCF) Center to End Corporate Harm, which…