San Francisco sues meals corporations over ultra-processed merchandise | EUROtoday

The metropolis of San Francisco on Tuesday sued ten main meals makers over their ultra-processed merchandise, accusing the trade’s giants of knowingly promoting meals which were linked to an increase in severe ailments.

City officers declare the businesses’ ways resemble these of the tobacco trade. Local governments, they argue, should shoulder the general public well being care prices.

Firms together with Kraft Heinz, Mondelez and Coca-Cola have deliberately marketed addictive, unhealthy merchandise in violation of California legal guidelines on public nuisance and unfair competitors, in response to the grievance.

Kraft, Mondelez and the opposite corporations named as defendants didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark

Their merchandise vary from cookies and sweets to cereal and granola bars.

“These companies engineered a public health crisis, they profited handsomely, and now they need to take responsibility for the harm they have caused,” mentioned San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu mentioned in a press release.

Sarah Gallo, senior vp of product coverage on the Consumer Brands Association, an trade commerce group, mentioned an “agreed upon scientific definition” of ultra-processed meals doesn’t exist.

“Attempting to classify foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed, or demonizing food by ignoring its full nutrient content, misleads consumers and exacerbates health disparities,” Ms Gallo mentioned in a press release.

Food and beverage producers, she added, are introducing new merchandise with extra protein and fibre, much less sugar and sodium and with out artificial color components.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court and one of many first of its form, argues that the rising availability of ultra-processed meals has coincided with a “dramatic increase” in weight problems, diabetes, coronary heart illness, cancers and different continual diseases.

“This case is about food products with hidden health harms,” the grievance states.

The metropolis is requesting financial penalties and a statewide order forcing the meals giants to vary their “deceptive” advertising and marketing ways.

Concern about ultra-processed meals has emerged as an space of consensus amongst some left-leaning officers and the Trump administration, at the same time as they continue to be divided over Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s different positions, together with his scepticism of vaccines.

In April, Kennedy introduced that the US would, for instance, ban eight generally used synthetic meals dyes.

The US well being secretary and his Make America Healthy Again motion have additionally referred to as for corporations to take away elements resembling corn syrup, seed oils and synthetic dyes from their merchandise, linking them to well being issues.

Some meals corporations have introduced modifications to their merchandise since Trump’s return to the White House. Coca-Cola this summer time agreed to make use of actual cane sugar in its drinks offered within the US.

San Francisco’s lawsuit is the primary filed by a authorities entity over meals corporations’ intentional advertising and marketing of ultra-processed meals.

But this yr, a decide in Pennsylvania dismissed a separate grievance introduced by a person who claimed ultra-processed meals contributed to his diabetes and liver illness diagnoses.