The city of San Francisco has launched an unprecedented legal battle against Coca-Cola and nine other global food companies, accusing them of "engineering" ultra-processed and addictive foods.
San Francisco sues Coca-Cola and major food companies for allegedly engineering consumer addiction.
San Francisco sues Coca-Cola and major food companies for allegedly engineering addiction among poor consumers
It has contributed to a worsening public health crisis, particularly within low-income communities and ethnic minorities.
According to the lawsuit filed by the city's Attorney General, Chiu, on December 2nd in the San Francisco Superior Court, the charges against Coca-Cola included major companies such as Kraft Heinz, Mondelez International, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé USA, Kellogg's, Mars Incorporated, Post Holdings, and Conagra Brands.
According to US media reports, this is the first case of its kind in which a government agency has taken the initiative to sue food companies over the health effects of ultra-processed products, accusing them of designing food formulations that are excessively high in sugar, fat, and chemicals with the aim of creating addiction and making huge profits at the expense of public health.
"Food has become an unrecognizable and harmful product for the human body," Attorney General Chiu said in an official statement, accusing the companies involved of "engineering a public health crisis" and reaping huge profits in that way, stressing that the time has come to take responsibility for the damages caused by it.
The lawsuit documents showed that these companies adopted intensive marketing strategies that specifically targeted children, through the use of cartoon characters and collaboration with major entertainment companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon and Marvel. It also indicated that Black and Latino children were exposed to advertisements for ultra-processed foods at a rate about 70 percent higher than their white counterparts.
The lawsuit highlighted serious health implications, explaining that diabetes rates among Black Americans have quadrupled over the past three decades, while San Francisco has recorded significantly higher hospitalization and death rates due to diabetes in Black communities compared to other racial groups.
She also confirmed that about 70 percent of the food supply in the United States now consists of ultra-processed products, which limits the real choices for low-income families and pushes them to consume products carefully designed to induce addiction.
Observers believe this move could pave the way for a wave of similar lawsuits in other American cities, seeking to impose legal accountability on major food companies and enhance consumer protection, especially for children and vulnerable groups, from business practices that put profits above public health considerations.
