San Francisco has launched a major lawsuit against 11 leading food giants, accusing them of driving a public health crisis through the sale and marketing of ultraprocessed foods. The 64-page suit, filed on 2 December by City Attorney David Chiu, claims the companies knowingly engineered addictive products that contribute to rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease.
The brands named include The Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelez International, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé, Kellanova, WK Kellogg Co., Mars Inc., and Conagra Brands. According to the filing, these products; spanning cereals, candies, beverages, and ready-to-eat meals, were deliberately formulated to make consumers crave more, while being marketed as convenient or healthy despite their health risks.
City officials argue that the companies failed to provide adequate health warnings, misled the public with deceptive nutritional claims, and targeted vulnerable groups, especially children, through aggressive advertising. Chiu said the companies “designed food to be addictive,” concealed the long-term dangers, and left taxpayers responsible for the medical fallout.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and demands an end to what the city calls deceptive marketing practices.
This legal action coincides with a broader national push against processed foods under the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Earlier this year, Kennedy pledged to phase out petroleum-based food dyes by 2027, while Trump announced that Coca-Cola would switch from corn syrup to cane sugar in the US market.
None of the named companies have publicly responded to the lawsuit.
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