Key Takeaways The city of San Francisco sued 10 major food and beverage companies on Tuesday, accusing the companies of selling ultra-processed products.
These products have led to a public health crisis and have burdened governments with healthcare costs, the lawsuit alleged.
Examples of ultra-processed foods include breakfast cereal, candy and chips.
San Francisco has filed the first government lawsuit in the U.S. specifically targeting ultra-processed foods like Pringles, Hot Pockets and Cheetos, and the major companies that make them.
The city attorney, David Chiu, filed the lawsuit against 10 food and beverage giants, including Coca-Cola, Nestle and Kraft, on Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court. The suit alleges that these companies marketed and sold ultra-processed foods that they knew were harmful to human health.
The city defined ultra-processed foods as former whole foods that have been broken down and then reassembled with additives like colors, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners. Examples include candy, chips, processed meat and breakfast cereal.
The lawsuit accused these food conglomerates of contributing to a public health crisis and saddling governments with healthcare costs. The city seeks financial penalties and restitution to help offset health care costs linked to ultra-processed foods. It also wants to require changes in how these foods are promoted.
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Additional defendants include Kraft Heinz, Mondelez International, PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg and Mars Incorporated — all large food and beverage companies whose brands dominate U.S. grocery shelves. Brands associated with General Mills alone include Cheerios, Pillsbury and Progresso.
“These companies created a public health crisis with the engineering and marketing of ultra-processed foods,” Chiu said in a statement. “They took food and made it unrecognizable and harmful to the human body… These companies engineered a public health crisis, they profited handsomely, and now they need to take responsibility for the harm they have caused.”
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