San Francisco files a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against 10 major food companies.
The city alleges that ultra-processed foods are deliberately designed to be addictive.
Products linked to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mental health conditions.
The case compares the industry’s tactics to those of tobacco and opioid manufacturers.
Companies named include Coca-Cola, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Kellogg and others.
United States’ San Francisco city is suing 10 major food corporations over claims they have spent decades formulating ultra-processed foods (UFP) that are not only unhealthy but also addictive. This is the first-of-its-kind legal action against the health impacts of UFPs.
As India confronts rising health problems linked to UPF consumption, the lawsuit, filed against global giants including Coca-Cola, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Kellogg and Nestlé, has assumed global significance.
Announcing the case on December 2, 2025, San Francisco city attorney David Chiu said the companies must be held accountable for creating what he described as an “enormous public health crisis, with skyrocketing health-care costs”. “UPFs are making us sick, plain and simple,” said Chiu.
UPFs, as defined by the Nova food classification system, are branded, industrially manufactured products made from cheap food-derived substances and additives. They are designed and marketed to displace real food and freshly prepared meals, with a purpose of maximising industry profits.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations offers a detailed 11-paragraph definition — possibly one of the longest — highlighting that UPF manufacturing relies on substances rarely used in home cooking. These include multiple forms of sugar (fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, “fruit juice concentrates”, invert sugar, maltodextrin), modified oils (hydrogenated or interesterified fats), hydrolysed proteins, soya protein isolate, gluten, casein, whey protein and “mechanically separated meat”.
Put more simply, sugar, salt, fats and oils combined with artificial additives and blended in precisely calibrated ratios make UPFs highly palatable and difficult to resist, driving repeat consumption.
Products ranging from chips, biscuits and namkeens to carbonated drinks, breakfast cereals, sweetened yoghurts and ice creams undergo complex processing to extend shelf life and enhance taste. The result is food that is energy-dense, nutrient-poor and typically high in artificial additives.
Chiu said the city is suing the companies under California’s unfair competition and public nuisance laws for their “deceptive” practices. “We are seeking to enjoin deceptive marketing and to obtain restitution in civil penalties to recover the enormous costs borne by governments the public health costs that stem from chronic diseases due to UPFs,” he said.
There is plenty of scientific evidence linking these calorie-rich, nutrient-poor UPFs to a range of negative health outcomes. A November 2023 factsheet from the Global Food Research Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that high UPF consumption is associated not only with obesity and diabetes, but also cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression and cancer in the US, United Kingdom and Europe.
In October, Down To Earth reported that certain foods can trigger addictive behaviour comparable to substance-use disorders. One 2022 meta-analysis estimated global UPF addiction prevalence at 14-20 per cent, similar to levels seen for alcohol-use disorders.
The researchers explained these foods are intentionally engineered by powerful corporations to stimulate the brain’s pleasure centre with precision, to encourage overconsumption and maximise profit.
“Like the tobacco industry, they knew their products make people very sick, but hid the truth from the public,” said Chiu. He also shared a personal story about how as a child, his mother used Pringles potato crisps (stackable chips) to get him to take swimming lessons. “And to this day, I love my pringles. But they are designed to be highly addictive,” he said.
Just last month, a three-part Lancet series examined the influence of eight powerful food corporations over the past five decades. It found that these firms have steadily worked their way into decision-making and policy spaces that shape global food and health regulations, including in India.
“The most damning aspect of all this is that, like the tobacco and opioid industries, the UPF industry had actual knowledge that their products caused harm,” Chiu added. The legal complaint points to a 1999 meeting of chief executives from major US food companies, during which several reportedly warned of the “devastating public health consequences” associated with their products.
The companies named in the lawsuit are The Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelez, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé US, Kellogg, Mars Incorporated and Conagra Brands. The companies have been approached for comment.