U.S. Right to Know is a nonprofit newsroom and public health research group. We investigate and report on corporate wrongdoing and government failures that threaten our health, environment or food system. We produce independent, nonpartisan journalism in the public interest to help keep families healthy.
Since 2015, we have obtained and reported on hundreds of thousands of pages of internal corporate and government documents — from public records requests and litigation, and whistleblowers. We collaborate with public health academics, scientists and journalists around the world to share our findings.
Here are links to the extensive global news reporting about our investigations.
A Lancet Global Health report named U.S. Right to Know as a leading example of public health work that challenges the corporate playbook.
We invite you to read our findings
- Our investigations into the pesticide and ultra-processed food industries have been featured in four New York Times articles; more than a dozen articles in the BMJ, one of the world’s leading medical journals; and 16 co-authored peer-reviewed public health journal articles.
- Our reporting on the origins of COVID-19 and high-risk virological research, has revealed new insights into one of the most important public health stories of our times. Findings from our investigation have been covered in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Science, the BMJ, Journal of Medical Ethics and many other outlets.
- Over 1 million people have read our fact sheets on chemicals of concern, including artificial sweeteners, food additives, pesticides and ultra-processed food.
- Our team led reporting on the Monsanto Roundup cancer trials, pesticide industry disinformation and science-denial efforts, and we exposed the many front groups and academics pesticide and food companies use for product defense.
- To read documents we obtained through public records investigations, see our COVID-19 origins documents, and the U.S. Right to Know agrichemical industry and food industry collections in the UCSF Industry Documents Library.
Our journalism awards
- In 2025, the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter, awarded U.S. Right to Know with the James Madison Freedom of Information Award for our work investigating and reporting on the origins of COVID-19 and high-risk virological research. “U.S. Right to Know’s work, and their dedication to pursuing government documents in the face of widespread pushback, has helped the public better understand a pandemic that claimed millions of lives,” SPJ NorCal wrote.
- U.S. Right to Know investigative reporter Natasha Gilbert won first prize in the Global AMR Media Awards for the Pan American region in 2024. Gilbert was the first to report on US efforts to weaken global commitments to reduce antimicrobial resistance.
- In 2021, we received a James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter for our work exposing Monsanto’s influence on food policy and in academic circles.
Our funding, policies and partnerships
Our major donors and IRS filings are available here.
Our editorial independence policy is here.
We are a proud member of the Institute for Nonprofit News.
We collaborate with the University of California, San Francisco, Industry Documents Library to give the public free access to documents we uncover in our investigations of the ultra-processed food and chemical industries.
