6<\/p>\n
San Francisco is suing makers of the ultra-processed food that health experts say has led millions of Americans into obesity during decades of over-consumption, the city said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In what officials said was a first-of-a-kind lawsuit, the liberal California city is taking to task some of the largest names in groceries, including Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, Nestle and Kellogg.<\/p>\n
“These companies created a public health crisis with the engineering and marketing of ultra-processed foods,” San Francisco\u00a0City Attorney David Chiu said.<\/p>\n
“They took food and made it unrecognizable and harmful to the human body.”<\/p>\n
Ultra-processed food, including candies, chips, sodas and breakfast cereals, are typically made from ingredients that have been broken down, chemically modified and combined with artificial additives.<\/p>\n
They frequently contain colors, flavor enhancers, sweeteners, thickeners, foaming agents and emulsifiers, and typically cannot be produced in the home.<\/p>\n
“Americans want to avoid ultra-processed foods, but we are inundated by them. These companies engineered a public health crisis, they profited handsomely, and now they need to take responsibility for the harm they have caused,” Chiu said.<\/p>\n
– A common cause –<\/p>\n
With its lawsuit, lodged in San Francisco Superior Court, the Democratic-run city is making common cause with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement that has coalesced around Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy.<\/p>\n
The movement is a significant part of the fractious coalition that President Donald Trump rode to the White House for his second term in office.<\/p>\n
Kennedy has frequently taken aim at processed foods, calling them “poison” and blaming them for rising obesity, chronic illness and poor health, especially among young people.<\/p>\n
The US Centers for Disease Control says 40 percent of Americans are obese, and almost 16 percent have diabetes, a condition that can result from being excessively overweight.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit lodged Tuesday, which is demanding unspecified damages, claims that around 70 percent of the products sold in US supermarkets are ultra-processed.<\/p>\n
It says manufacturers employed a similar strategy to that of tobacco companies, pushing a product they knew was harmful with marketing that ignored or obscured the risks.<\/p>\n
“Just like Big Tobacco, the ultra-processed food industry targeted children to increase their profits,” a statement said.<\/p>\n
“The companies surrounded children with consistent product messages and inundated them with advertising using cartoon mascots like Tony the Tiger and Fred Flintstone.<\/p>\n
“Despite having actual knowledge of the harm they had caused, the ultra-processed food industry continued to inundate children with targeted marketing and make increasingly addictive products with little nutritional value.<\/p>\n
Sarah Gallo of the Consumer Brands Association, an umbrella grouping of many of the companies targeted in the suit, said manufacturers “support Americans in making\u00a0healthier choices and enhancing product transparency.”<\/p>\n
“There is currently no agreed upon scientific definition of ultra-processed foods and attempting to classify foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed, or demonizing food by ignoring its full nutrient content, misleads consumers and exacerbates\u00a0health disparities.<\/p>\n
“Companies adhere to the rigorous evidence-based safety standards established\u00a0by the (government) to deliver safe, affordable\u00a0and convenient products that consumers depend on every day.”<\/p>\n
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