SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – San Francisco has filed a landmark lawsuit against 10 of the nation’s largest food manufacturers, accusing them of creating and marketing ultra-processed foods that have contributed to a widespread public health crisis. The defendants include Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé USA, Kellogg, Mars, and ConAgra.
City Attorney David Chiu said Tuesday that the companies “took food and made it unrecognizable and harmful to the human body,” profiting while creating a crisis that now demands accountability. Mayor Daniel Lurie backed the effort, saying it aims to ensure that San Francisco families are informed about the foods they consume and are not misled by marketing.
The complaint argues that ultra-processed foods—including sodas, chips, boxed macaroni, processed meats, and breakfast cereals—pose unique health risks due to additives, emulsifiers, flavor enhancers, and chemically modified ingredients designed to drive cravings. These products now account for roughly 70% of the U.S. food supply, contributing to rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, colorectal cancer, and depression. Officials emphasized that low-income and minority communities have been disproportionately affected by aggressive marketing campaigns.
The lawsuit draws parallels to Big Tobacco, noting that major food companies acquired knowledge of addiction science when tobacco companies entered the food business in the 1960s. Internal industry documents reportedly show that by the 1990s, Kraft’s marketing had reached 95% of U.S. children ages 6–12, with Black and Latino children targeted at higher rates than white children. Despite internal warnings about the health impacts, executives continued promoting addictive foods.
San Francisco highlights the financial burden of diet-related illnesses, noting the city spends billions annually on Medi-Cal, employee benefits, and public health programs, with diabetes alone responsible for $85 million in hospital charges in 2016. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, seeks injunctions against deceptive marketing, civil penalties, and restitution to help offset health care costs.
City officials hope the case will set a national precedent similar to the tobacco litigation of past decades, holding corporations accountable for engineering a public health crisis and funding long-term protections for communities. Law firms Andrus Anderson, DiCello Levitt, and Morgan & Morgan are co-counsel on the case, which aims to combine legal accountability with public health advocacy.