San Francisco initiated a lawsuit against major food producers Coca-Cola and Nestle. Authorities believe that ultra-processed food (UPF) endangers public wellness, according to ABC News.
On Tuesday, December 2nd, city officials filed suit against large food corporations. It lists ten firms, including Coca-Cola, Nestle, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz Company, Post Holdings, Mondelez International, General Mills, Kellogg, Mars Incorporated, and ConAgra Brands.
Prosecutor David Chiu emphasized in his statement that the mentioned companies have instigated a public health crisis, gained massive revenues, and now “must be held accountable for the harm they have caused.”
Ultra-processed items include sweets, chips, soft drinks, meat substitutes, energy drinks, and breakfast cereals, Chiu recalled. In the prosecutor’s view, such sustenance contains hardly any whole ingredients. And its frequent consumption leads to the development of type two diabetes, fatty liver disease (steatosis), colorectal cancer, and even depression.
Officials note that the effect of these products is also being discussed at the federal level. US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has already incorporated the fight against them into his “Make America Healthy Again” platform and insists on excluding this food from assistance programs for low-income families.
According to an August report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans derive over half of all calories from heavily processed products. In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved the nation’s first statute to phase out certain ultra-processed goods in school cafeterias.
Municipal authorities contend that the companies violate California’s unfair competition laws. In the suit, they demanded a ban on misleading aggressive marketing, compelled producers to alert consumers to potential health risks, and limited advertising of such goods to children. Additionally, they proposed imposing monetary penalties to assist local governments in offsetting healthcare expenditures linked to the intake of highly processed food.
Harm of Ultra-Processed Food
Earlier, the journal Lancet published results of a worldwide study that revealed ultra-processed products negatively affect all major human organs. Researchers point out that already today, over half of the diet of UK and US residents consists of heavily processed items high in fats, carbohydrates, and sodium. Among youth, the poor, and residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods, the share of such food in the diet reaches 80%.
Regular consumption of ultra-processed articles accelerates biological aging. Scientists from Monash University (Australia) reached this conclusion last December. Dr. Barbara Cardozo, who led the research, noted that just 200 kcal of ultra-processed products (which is a small portion of nuggets) can speed up aging by two months. Researchers stressed that the adverse impact of such food on biological age persisted even if the overall quality of the diet was good. This might be due to the complete absence of beneficial nutrients in such fare.
Due to unhealthy diets, the growth in life expectancy has slowed in Europe and the UK. Professor Nicholas Steel from the University of East Anglia believes that another reason for this decline is the modern person’s lifestyle: improper nutrition and lack of activity provoke the development of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and oncology.
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