Health over Profits: How can we regulate the tobacco, alcohol and food industries?

Online seminar on 12 May 2026, 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. (CEST)

In light of the current discussions in Germany regarding taxes designed to improve health and reduce associated costs, we invite you to join our online seminar “Health over Profits”. Experts from Mexico, Bangladesh, Sweden, and Nigeria will share their experiences of how corporate regulation could work when the right to health is implemented. They talk about tobacco products, alcohol and ultra-processed foods, and discuss the commercial determinants of health (CDoH).

The Commercial Determinants of Health describe how commercial actors influence policy, shape narratives and exploit power imbalances for the benefit of their business. Their activities have a direct or indirect, positive or negative impact on the health of people and the planet. This influence can also be positive when products or services are provided that benefit health or the protection of the environment and climate.

However, the use of tobacco products, alcohol or ultra-processed foods results in very high health and economic costs, as well as causing great suffering. Furthermore, the economic power of profit-driven actors very often prevents or hinders political action to protect public health and the environment. How can this imbalance be addressed through government action and civil society engagement?

A best practice example is food regulation in Mexico. In Bangladesh, Sweden and Nigeria, different experiences have been gained with the regulation of these three sectors.

Introductory inputs

• Commercial Determinants of Health – what tobacco, food and alcohol have in common
  Miriam Meschede, Centre for Planetary Health Policy
  
• Best Practice: The Law on Adequate and Sustainable Nutrition in Mexico
  Andrea Arango Angarita, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública
  

Discussion contributions

• Regulation of tobacco products in Bangladesh
  Sushanta K Sinha, Journalist
  
• Regulation of alcohol in Sweden
  N.N.
  
• Regulation of trans fats in Nigeria
  Philip Jakpor, Renevlyn Development Initiative

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We will discuss, among other things, the following questions: How does the legislation actually work, and which improvements have been made in recent years? Who are the key players, and how have they managed to bring about change? Which obstacles have been encountered, and which opportunities exist to achieve even more? How can we support governments in better aligning their actions with the principle of “health over profits”?

Session chair: Nicole Stauf, Centre for Planetary Health Policy, Deutschland

Language: English, with simultaneous interpretation into German

The participation is free of charge.
Please register here to participate.

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Our online seminar is addressed to civil society actors, media representatives and interested members of the public. It is organised by Foodjustice & Unfairtobacco, with support from Movendi International.

The event is funded by ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), by Landesstelle EZ of the Berlin Senate, Evangelical Church Development Service (Brot für die Welt), and the Foundation Oskar-Helene-Heim.

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Background to the event

Around 140 billion euros – that is the cost to the environment and public health caused by the food system in Germany. The main drivers are meat production and the consumption of sugar and ultra-processed foods. Tobacco products result in annual health-related costs of around 90 billion euros. The economic costs caused by alcohol use amount to around 57 billion euros per year.

These figures relate solely to Germany. They do not take into account the environmental damage, the harm to health and the social consequences caused by the cultivation of tobacco and animal feed in the Global South. Nor do they take into account the social consequences of addiction and illness.

At the same time, the turnover of some globally operating companies exceeds the gross domestic product of entire countries. The US supermarket chain Walmart, for example, ranks tenth among the world’s largest economic players by turnover – ahead of countries such as Spain, the Netherlands and South Korea. This economic power wielded by profit-driven actors who lack democratic legitimacy has the effect of preventing or hindering political action designed to protect health and the environment. Examples range from lawsuits brought by companies against states seeking to regulate products harmful to health, such as tobacco, to systematic tax avoidance and the funding of studies that cast doubt on the scientific basis of health and environmental protection.

As the figures show, this imbalance is profitable for only a few and a losing proposition for most – not to mention the suffering it causes. That is why government action is needed here: to prioritise health over profits.