San Francisco has sued food companies including Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, and Nestle USA, saying they knowingly sold harmful processed products.
The lawsuit also covers Mondelez, Post Holdings, Pepsi, General Mills, Kellogg, Mars, and ConAgra, and is the first government suit of its kind in the United States.
“These companies created a public health crisis with the engineering and marketing of ultra-processed foods,” said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu.
“Recent surveys show Americans want to avoid ultra-processed foods, but we are inundated by them. These companies engineered a public health crisis, they profited handsomely, and now they need to take responsibility for the harm they have caused.”
San Francisco’s lawsuit, filed in the city’s Superior Court, alleges these companies’ sales and marketing tactics violate California’s unfair competition laws and public nuisance statutes. It seeks financial penalties and an order preventing further deceptive marketing.
According to the suit, ultra-processed foods have been disassembled, chemically combined with additives, and reassembled. They often include artificial colours, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers, or sweeteners.
Around 70% of the U.S. food supply is ultra-processed, the suit said.
Consuming ultra-processed foods can increase the risk of health conditions like obesity and cardiovascular disease, according to a review published in The Lancet last month.
“There is currently no agreed upon scientific definition of ultra-processed foods and attempting to classify foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed, or demonising food by ignoring its full nutrient content, misleads consumers and exacerbates health disparities,” said Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy at the Consumer Brands Association, which represents food manufacturers.
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