City Solicitor David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging that the companies used tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry to market products designed to addict consumers. The lawsuit accuses the companies of violating California's public nuisance and misleading marketing laws, writes Reuters.
The defendants include food giants: Kraft, Mondelez (brands such as Milka, Oreo, Halls) i Coca-Cola.
“These companies caused a public health crisis, they profited from it, and now they must take responsibility for the damage they caused,” Chiu said in a statement quoted by the agency.
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As ultra-processed foods have become more common, rates of obesity, cancer and diabetes have risen, the lawsuit claims. According to Chiu's office, heart disease and diabetes – both linked to ultra-processed foods – are among the leading causes of death in San Francisco, and are more common among low-income residents.
The city is seeking damages and civil penalties to offset health care costs, as well as an injunction prohibiting the companies from engaging in deceptive marketing and ordering them to change their practices.
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Lawsuit against Coca-Cola. “Ultra-processed food”
Although the definition of ultra-processed foods is debated, scientists typically apply it to many packaged snacks, sweets, and soft drinks that are made using processing techniques, additives, and industrial ingredients and most contain small amounts of whole foods.
In a report released in May by U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Trump administration has pointed to ultra-processed foods as one of the causes of the epidemic of chronic diseases among children in the country.
The lawsuit is the first filed by the municipality over allegations that food companies knowingly marketed addictive and harmful ultra-processed foods.
See also: Donald Trump influenced the composition of Coca-Cola. “Back to the original recipe”
The San Francisco case is represented by attorneys from Morgan & Morgan, which was behind an earlier lawsuit on similar claims brought by a Philadelphia resident who says he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease when he was 16 because of his consumption of ultra-processed foods.
The lawsuit was dismissed in August after a federal judge in Pennsylvania found that the plaintiff had failed to link specific products to his condition, which could be a problem for many similar claims.
Source: Reuters
