Jennifer Pomeranz
Jennifer L Pomeranz
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Associate Professor of Public Health Policy and Management
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Professional overview
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Professor Jennifer Pomeranz is a public health lawyer who researches policy and legal options to address the food environment, obesity, products that cause public harm, and social injustice that lead to health disparities.
Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Professor Pomeranz was an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health at Temple University and in the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple. She was previously the Director of Legal Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. She has also authored numerous peer-reviewed and law review journal articles and a book, Food Law for Public Health, published by Oxford University Press in 2016.
Professor Pomeranz leads the Public Health Policy Research Lab and regularly teaches Public Health Law and Food Policy for Public Health.
"Policy is so important because it is the most effective way to influence public health. I got into public health to change the world -- to improve health and address inequities.”
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Education
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BA, History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MIJD, Juris Doctorate, Cornell Law School, Ithaca, NYMPH, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
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Areas of research and study
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Diet-related diseaseProducts that cause harmPublic Health LawPublic Health PolicySocial injustices that create health disparities
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Publications
Publications
Advancing The FDA’s Human Foods Program Through Additional Authorities And User Fees
Population, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with state preemption laws in the United States, 2009-2018
Beyond Laws: Governors’ Roles in Shaping State Firearm Environments, 2020–2022
Silver, D., Pomeranz, J. L., Holm, J., & Doki, M. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
American journal of preventive medicineVolume
66Issue
4Page(s)
744-749Disclosure of mandatory and voluntary nutrition labelling information across major online food retailers in the USA
Legal implications of food addiction
Pomeranz, J. L. (n.d.). In Food & Addiction: A Comprehensive Handbook.Publication year
2024Page(s)
521-528Regulation of Added Substances in the Food Supply by the Food and Drug Administration Human Foods Program
The Entrenched Erosion of Meaningful Participation in US Elections
Pomeranz, J. L. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
American journal of public healthVolume
114Issue
3Page(s)
294-296Availability of calorie information on online menus from chain restaurants in the USA: current prevalence and legal landscape
Breastmilk or infant formula? Content analysis of infant feeding advice on breastmilk substitute manufacturer websites
Effects of a front-of-package disclosure on accuracy in assessing children's drink ingredients: Two randomised controlled experiments with US caregivers of young children
Expanded policy rationales support sugar-sweetened beverage taxes
Pomeranz, J. L. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
Nature FoodVolume
4Issue
11Page(s)
931-932Firearm Laws Enacted by Municipalities in 6 States With Diverse Policy Frameworks
Forced Birth and No Time off Work: Abortion Access and Paid Family Leave Policies
Schnake-Mahl, A. S., Pomeranz, J. L., Sun, N., Headen, I., O’Leary, G., & Jahn, J. L. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
American journal of preventive medicineVolume
65Issue
4Page(s)
755-759Is that Hospital Food Pantry an Illegal Patient Inducement? Analysis of Health Care Fraud Laws as Barriers to Food and Nutrition Security Interventions
Policy Opportunities and Legal Considerations to Reform SNAP-Authorized Food Retail Environments
Public Health Law in Practice
AbstractPomeranz, J. L., Merrill, T. G., & Schroth, K. R. (n.d.).Publication year
2023AbstractThis book is a public health law textbook specifically for U.S. public health practitioners, advocates and students at the undergraduate, master, and doctoral level. It is the only public health law textbook for a public health audience that includes case law and provides practical information on the practice of public health. This book provides necessary background into law as it relates to the practice of public health, including the government’s authority to promote public health through policies and programs, and limitations on the government’s authority to protect public health. The book also addresses specific topics of deep interest and concern to public health readers and provides information on the mechanics of public health policymaking.The Diffusion of Punitive Firearm Preemption Laws Across U.S. States
The Health and Economic Impact of Using a Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax to Fund Fruit and Vegetable Subsidies in New York City: A Modeling Study
U.S. Policies Addressing Ultraprocessed Foods, 1980–2022
US Policies That Define Foods for Junk Food Taxes, 1991–2021
AbstractPomeranz, J. L., Cash, S. B., & Mozaffarian, D. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
Milbank QuarterlyVolume
101Issue
2Page(s)
560-600AbstractPolicy Points Suboptimal diet is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Excise taxes on junk food are not widely utilized in the United States. The development of a workable definition of the food to be taxed is a substantial barrier to implementation. Three decades of legislative and regulatory definitions of food for taxes and related purposes provide insight into methods to characterize food to advance new policies. Defining policies through Product Categories combined with Nutrients or Processing may be a method to identify foods for health-related goals. Context: Suboptimal diet is a substantial contributor to weight gain, cardiometabolic diseases, and certain cancers. Junk food taxes can raise the price of the taxed product to reduce consumption and the revenue can be used to invest in low-resource communities. Taxes on junk food are administratively and legally feasible but no definition of “junk food” has been established. Methods: To identify legislative and regulatory definitions characterizing food for tax and other related purposes, this research used Lexis+ and the NOURISHING policy database to identify federal, state, territorial, and Washington DC statutes, regulations, and bills (collectively denoted as “policies”) defining and characterizing food for tax and related policies, 1991–2021. Findings: This research identified and evaluated 47 unique laws and bills that defined food through one or more of the following criteria: Product Category (20 definitions), Processing (4 definitions), Product intertwined with Processing (19 definitions), Place (12 definitions), Nutrients (9 definitions), and Serving Size (7 definitions). Of the 47 policies, 26 used more than one criterion to define food categories, especially those with nutrition-related goals. Policy goals included taxing foods (snack, healthy, unhealthy, or processed foods), exempting foods from taxation (snack, healthy, unhealthy, or unprocessed foods), exempting homemade or farm-made foods from state and local retail regulations, and supporting federal nutrition assistance objectives. Policies based on Product Categories alone differentiated between necessity/staple foods on the one hand and nonnecessity/nonstaple foods on the other. Conclusions: In order to specifically identify unhealthy food, policies commonly included a combination of Product Category, Processing, and/or Nutrient criteria. Explanations for repealed state sales tax laws on snack foods identified retailers’ difficulty pinpointing which specific foods were subject to the tax as a barrier to implementation. An excise tax assessed on manufacturers or distributors of junk food is a method to overcome this barrier and may be warranted.Federal Paid Sick Leave Is Needed to Support Prevention and Public Health and Address Inequities
Pomeranz, J. L., Pagán, J. A., & Silver, D. (n.d.). In American journal of preventive medicine.Publication year
2022Volume
63Issue
2Page(s)
e75Food and Beverage Product Appearances in Educational, Child-Targeted YouTube Videos
Food Marketing to - And Research on - Children: New Directions for Regulation in the United States
AbstractPomeranz, J. L., & Mozaffarian, D. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Journal of Law, Medicine and EthicsVolume
50Issue
3Page(s)
542-550AbstractAs countries around the world work to restrict unhealthy food and beverage marketing to children, the U.S. remains reliant on industry-self regulation. The First Amendment's protection for commercial speech and previous gutting of the Federal Trade Commission's authority pose barriers to restricting food marketing to children. However, false, unfair, and deceptive acts and practices remain subject to regulation and provide an avenue to address marketing to young children, modern practices that have evaded regulation, and gaps in the food and beverage industry's self-regulatory approach.Opportunities to address the failure of online food retailers to ensure access to required food labelling information in the USA
State Paid Sick Leave and Paid Sick-Leave Preemption Laws Across 50 U.S. States, 2009–2020