Gary Ruskin is executive director of U.S. Right to Know. Since 2014, he has led public interest investigations for USRTK that drive global news coverage about corporate malfeasance or government failures that harm public health. His work has been featured in multiple New York Times articles; more than a dozen articles in the BMJ, one of the world’s leading medical journals; and in news outlets around the world, including in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Le Monde, Guardian, Sky News Australia, Vanity Fair, Daily Mail, CBC, Boston Globe, Politico, and many more. 

He has co-authored 16 peer-reviewed public health journal articles about the influence of the food industry and its impacts on public health. 

Gary began doing public interest work in 1987. For 14 years, he directed the Congressional Accountability Project, which opposed corruption in the U.S. Congress, and promoted federal transparency reforms, including placing the core working documents of our democracy on the Internet. For eight years, he was executive director (and co-founder, with Ralph Nader) of Commercial Alert, a public interest group that opposed the marketing of junk food to children and the spread of the commercial culture to every nook and cranny of our lives. 

He has also authored or co-authored articles in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Mothering, and many others. He has been quoted countless times in major newspapers and has appeared scores of times on national TV news programs.

Gary received a B.A. from Carleton College and masters degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Contact Gary: gary@usrtk.org

Gary Ruskin’s recent work:

Globalization and Health: How independent is the international food information council from the food and beverage industry? A content analysis of internal industry documents, by Daniel Zaltz, Lauren Bisi, Gary Ruskin and Connie Hoe (10.29.22).

Public Health Nutrition: The corporate capture of the nutrition profession in the USA: the case of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, by Angela Carriedo, Ilana Pinsky, Eric Crosbie, Gary Ruskin and Mélissa Mialon (10.24.22).

Globalization and Health: Beyond nutrition and physical activity: food industry shaping of the very principles of scientific integrity, by Mélissa Mialon, Matthew Ho, Angela Carriedo, Gary Ruskin and Eric Crosbie (4.20.21).

Globalization and Health: Confronting potential food industry ‘front groups’: case study of the international food information Council’s nutrition communications using the UCSF food industry documents archive, by Sarah Steele, Lejla Sarcevic, Gary Ruskin and David Stuckler (2.12.22).

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: How Coca-Cola Shaped the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health: An Analysis of Email Exchanges between 2012 and 2014, by Benjamin Wood, Gary Ruskin and Gary Sacks (12.2.20)

Public Health Nutrition: Evaluating Coca-Cola’s attempts to influence public health ‘in their own words’: analysis of Coca-Cola emails with public health academics leading the Global Energy Balance Network, by Paulo Serodio, Gary Ruskin, Martin McKee and David Stuckler (8.3.20)

Public Health Nutrition: Pushing partnerships: corporate influence on research and policy via the International Life Sciences Institute, by Sarah Steele, Gary Ruskin and David Stuckler (5.17.20)

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Targeting Children and Their Mothers, Building Allies and Marginalising Opposition: An Analysis of Two Coca-Cola Public Relations Requests for Proposals, by Benjamin Wood, Gary Ruskin and Gary Sacks (12.18.19)

Globalization and Health: Are industry-funded charities promoting “advocacy-led studies” or “evidence-based science”? A case study of the International Life Sciences Institute, by Sarah Steele, Gary Ruskin, Lejla Sarcevic, Martin McKee and David Stuckler (6.2.19)

Journal of Public Health Policy: “Always read the small print”: a case study of commercial research funding, disclosure and agreements with Coca-Cola, by Sarah Steele, Gary Ruskin, Martin McKee and David Stuckler (5.8.19).

Milbank Quarterly: Public Meets Private: Conversations Between Coca-Cola and the CDC, by Nason Maani Hessari, Gary Ruskin, Martin McKee and David Stuckler (1.29.19)

Environmental Health News: Coca Cola’s war with the public health community: An Inside look at Coca Cola’s manipulation masquerading asscience (4.3.18)

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: Science organisations and Coca-Cola’s ‘war’ with the public health community: insights from an internal industry document, by Pepita Barlow, Paulo Serôdio, Gary Ruskin, Martin McKee, David Stuckler (3.14.18)

Journal of Public Health Policy: Complexity and conflicts of interest statements: a case-study of emails exchanged between Coca-Cola and the principal investigators of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE), by David Stuckler, Martin McKee and Gary Ruskin (11.27.17)

Critical Public Health: How food companies influence evidence and opinion – straight from the horse’s mouth, by Gary Sacks, Boyd Swinburn, Adrian Cameron, and Gary Ruskin (5.18.17)