SAN FRANCISCO HAS FILED A LAWSUIT against several major companies that manufacture ultra-processed foods, alleging that the corporations knowingly created unhealthy and addictive products in order to boost sales.
“These products in our diets are deeply linked to serious health conditions,” said City Attorney David Chiu in a speech during Tuesday briefing on the lawsuit. “Our case is about companies who designed food to be harmful and addictive and marketed their products to maximize profits.”
Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, are foods that have been created with chemical additives that have limited nutritional value and little to no food uses outside of processing. They include products like certain brands of chips, boxed macaroni, breakfast cereals, soda, cheese, candies, and processed meats.
Chiu stood in his office along with supporters of the suit like Supervisor Shamann Walton, San Francisco Public Health Director Daniel Tsai, and several members of the medical field.
“Ultra processed foods themselves cause unique health risks because of their chemicals and because of how those chemicals are combined,” Chiu said. “You can see a few of the worst offenders right there.”
Chiu pointed to a table covered in products considered to be ultra-processed, such as Oreo cookies, Lunchables, Cheetos, Hot Pockets, and Pringles.
“My mother used to bribe me with Pringles to get me into the pool to take swim lessons,” Chiu said. “I still crave them to this day, but just in recent months, I’ve learned about the specific harms of just this product alone.”
Studies have shown that overconsumption of UPFs can lead to adverse health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer, and depression.
The suit was filed against major food manufacturing companies including The Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelez International, The Coca-Cola Company, Nestle USA, General Mills, PepsiCo, Kellanova, WK Kellogg Co., Mars Incorporated, Conagra Brands, and Post Holdings.
It accuses the companies of using deceptive marketing techniques to target children, low-income groups, and people of color to consume their products while knowing that overconsumption of the foods could lead to poor health outcomes, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics.
In San Francisco, the average life expectancy is 82 years. However, the average life expectancy for Black residents is 66 years, a disparity that Tsai attributes partially to the overconsumption of cheap, ultra-processed foods in communities of color.
There is a “very compelling linkage between ultra-processed food and the addictive nature of that and the downstream health outcomes,” Tsai said. “Communities of color and low-income communities have been disproportionately impacted by this.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary relief from the defendants as well as a statewide order prohibiting the named companies from deceptive marketing.
Three law firms have also joined in the litigation against the multiple food manufacturers — Andrus Anderson, DiCello Levitt, and Morgan & Morgan.
“Today, the city of San Francisco and the sovereign people of California stand up and say, ‘enough,’“ said Rene Rocha, attorney with Morgan & Morgan, in a speech. “It’s time for accountability and justice and time to create a brighter future for our children, one with food that nurtures instead of harms.”
