Most public health research on the commercial determinants of health (CDOH) to date
has focused on a narrow segment of commercial actors. These actors are generally the
transnational corporations producing so-called unhealthy commodities such as tobacco,
alcohol, and ultra-processed foods. Furthermore, as public health researchers, we
often discuss the CDOH using sweeping terms such as private sector, industry, or business
that lump together diverse entities whose only shared characteristic is their engagement
in commerce.