From The Intersector Project’s “Research to Practice” series, this article looks closely at scholarly research and highlights key facts, actionable takeaways, and additional resources practitioners can turn to for related guidance.

Public health partnerships with the private sector have become increasingly common since the World Health Assembly urged the World Health Organization to bring together non-profit and business-sector partners in raising the universal health level more than 20 years ago. In a recent article from the Annual Review of Public Health, researchers explore cross-sector partnerships for public health, specifically those that engage partners from the food and beverage industry to target obesity and noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention in high-income countries. While the private sector can add value to public health partnerships, the authors warn that “poorly chosen partnerships with industries implicated as drivers of the obesity and NCD epidemics for easy money have tarnished public health’s brand and the reputation of many health organizations.” The authors draw conclusions on key factors to mitigate the risks of these partnerships and to encourage successful outcomes, examining trust, conflicts of interest, and monitoring and evaluation.