Ultra-Processed Food Companies Face Legal Scrutiny for Targeting Children

Dec 18, 2024 - 11:04 Updated: Dec 17, 2024 - 18:48

Ultra-Processed Food Companies Face Legal Scrutiny for Targeting Children

A Pennsylvania teen with chronic diseases is suing food companies for not warning consumers of the dangers of eating chemically-laden food.

A Pennsylvania teen who developed Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease by age 16 is suing the companies that made the food he’s grown up eating, claiming the companies intentionally develop addictive food and market it to children.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Bryce Martinez by Morgan & Morgan, alleges that companies including Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Mars, PepsiCo, and others strategically designed research around the brain’s positive response to chemicals to make their products addictive. It accuses the companies of using the same techniques as tobacco companies.

Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are the result of companies that value profits over people, health, and safety, said Morgan & Morgan partner Mike Morgan in a news release shared with The Epoch Times.

“The consequences of these companies’ alleged actions have allegedly harmed thousands of children and families,” he said. “Executives at the defendant companies have allegedly known for at least a quarter-century that ultra-processed foods would contribute to illnesses in children, but these companies allegedly ignored the public health risks in pursuit of profits.”

Decades-old transcripts and other research accompanied the legal complaint. The Epoch Times reached out to several companies but did not receive a response.

The lawsuit highlights ongoing complications when it comes to processed food, including whether there’s widespread agreement as to what constitutes ultra-processed food and whether there are nefarious practices underlying the engineering and marketing of packaged food.

Danger to Kids

Among the specific accusations, the lawsuit states that products Martinez ate were marketed as safe and were not tested to see whether they would be harmful to human hormones or metabolism.

These two factors raise the risk of diseases like Type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which are becoming more prevalent in North American adolescents, according to a 2023 Hepatology study.

“It is an increasing global health problem, which has far-reaching implications for the affected subjects for their childhood and adolescence but also their adulthood,” the authors stated.

Children with fatty liver disease are more likely to have Type 2 diabetes and heart disease risk factors. Adolescents and young adults with the disease face higher rates of cancer, as well as liver and heart disease-related deaths.

The lawsuit blames the companies because they offer no warnings to those who eat or drink their products. In addition to being dangerous and raising the risk of diabetes and fatty liver disease, it blames companies for not warning that their products:

Are engineered so people want to eat more
Have unnatural and potentially dangerous combinations of ingredients
Contain chemical additives and contaminants

“The failure of defendants to adequately warn about its defective UPF and to misleadingly advertise through a variety of marketing campaigns created a danger of injuries that were reasonably foreseeable at the time of labeling, design, manufacture, distribution and sale of their UPF,” the lawsuit states.

Define Ultra-Processed

The lawsuit states Martinez chronically ate ultra-processed food and regularly drank beverages like Capri Sun, Gatorade, Propel, Vitamin Water, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. He also ate foods such as cereals, crackers, ice cream, candy, canned pasta, salad dressings, syrups, cookies, chips, and frozen microwavable meals.

Consumer Brands Association, a lobbying and trade organization that represents food companies, takes aim at the term “ultra-processed.”

There is no scientific definition of ultra-processed foods, according to Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy for Consumer Brands Association.

“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,” Gallo told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “We fully support providing consumers the dignity of choice when making decisions about healthy dietary patterns and the makers of America’s household brands are continuously innovating to meet the health and lifestyle needs of their customers.”

Offering his take, integrative pediatrician Dr. Joel “Gator” Warsh said the term ultra-processed foods is well-defined and used frequently in public health messaging and nutrition research.

“Ultraprocessed foods are industrial formulations often containing ingredients not typically used in home cooking, such as emulsifiers, thickeners, and artificial flavors. These foods are designed to be convenient, palatable, and often addictive, but they tend to be low in essential nutrients and high in additives, sugar, and unhealthy fats,” he told The Epoch Times in an email interview.

Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene added that the NOVA Food Classification system, designed in 2009 by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, is globally recognized. It was developed to group foods by the amount of processing they’ve undergone. The classification scale is used in studies that look at the connection between processed foods and disease, Greene said.

Ultra-processed foods are described, in part, by being industrialized recipes derived from oils, fats, sugar, starch, and protein. They can include both food and drinks and contain a combination of several food additives intended to make the product hyper-palatable.

Consumer Brand Association chief executive officer David Chavern said the term ultra-processed is used to vilify the food industry in an editorial he wrote a year ago.

He said processing is a part of food preparation that has been around since humans began using fire to cook.

“Nearly a quarter of the adult population in the U.S. is considered food insecure, and nutrient-dense food options that are affordable, shelf-stable, and easily prepared—regardless of kitchen access—are made possible by food processing,” he wrote.

In response, Warsh said such arguments from the food industry only deflect attention from the evidence that ultra-processed foods are linked to diseases and poor health. While the definition of ultra-processed is broad, he said it’s sufficient to guide public health recommendations and consumer awareness.

“As a pediatrician, I see firsthand how the consumption of these foods affects children, contributing to chronic diseases and shaping lifelong habits,” he said. “It’s critical to focus on reducing reliance on ultra-processed foods and promoting whole, minimally processed options to protect public health, especially among vulnerable populations like children.”

Unfair Advantage

Besides potentially causing health harms with their food, large companies have been criticized for using power and influence to sway public opinion through policymakers and the media. The lawsuit lists examples of the predatory nature of marketing by food companies dating back to the 1970s.

Such practices were pointed out more than a decade ago by former United Nations director-general Dr. Margaret Chan in an address.

Like the tobacco industry, Big Food and Big Soda use lobbying tactics and industry-funded research to obfuscate not only evidence but also the people navigating grocery store aisles to feed their families, she said. Among the tactics are partnering with worthy causes to elevate their reputation and placing the responsibility for health on the public.

“This is formidable opposition. Market power readily translates into political power. Few governments prioritize health over big business. As we learned from experience with the tobacco industry, a powerful corporation can sell the public just about anything,” Chan said.

What the Future Holds

Banning food ingredients is not without precedent. It’s possible that certain ingredients used to make ultra-processed foods could meet the same fate as harmful ingredients like food dyes.

Over the years, several organizations have filed petitions asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review chemical additives and food dyes. Recently, the FDA announced that a decision on Red 3, a petroleum-based dye used to make food and drinks a bright red, is forthcoming.

Social media influencers like Dr. Paul Saladino, a physician nutrition specialist, have suggested that ultra-processed foods be outlawed. Legislative efforts have been on a state level targeting individual ingredients.

Several states are considering their own legislation to ban certain additives, following California’s lead. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to ban six food dyes—linked to behavioral problems and hyperactivity in children—from its schools. The state also passed a measure that banned four food additives—Red 3, brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, and propylparaben—from all food sold in the state.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—the Trump Administration nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services—has taken aim at food chemicals and has hinted that they could be banned soon.

“We’d have fewer sick days, we’d have better focus, we’d have less anxiety, our kids would learn more easily, we’d lose weight, and we’d have more energy, fewer tumors, and longer lives,” he said in an October video.

Gallo said companies follow the FDA’s rigorous evidence-based standards, which can help Americans make the best health-based choices.

The lawsuit, however, paints a different picture and places onus on the companies. It argues that six of the 11 food companies named in its complaint have gone beyond neglect in their handling of ultra-processed and have “conspired with one another by setting out to entice and lure children to consume increasing amounts of UPF as a wrongful, unlawful and tortious means to make a profit.”