A Bucks County man is suing Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and other major food manufacturers, claiming they intentionally designed and marketed ultra-processed foods to be addictive to children.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, claims Bryce Martinez, 18, of Warrington, was diagnosed at 16 with type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after a history consuming Bagel Bites, Swedish Fish, Honey Comb cereal, Gatorade, Tostitos and other ultra-processed food products.
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Ultra-processed foods contain few, if any, whole foods and have high amounts of sugar and salt. The lawsuit claims the food manufacturers engaged in "predatory marketing" and failed to warn of the potential health dangers of eating highly-processed foods. Research has linked them to obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and many other chronic conditions.
The 11 companies named in the lawsuit also include Post Holdings, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestle's, W.K. Kellog, Mars, Mondelez, Kellanova and Conagra. The lawsuit was filed by the lawfirm Morgan & Morgan.
"Ultraprocessed foods are clever manipulations of mostly unhealthy ingredients titrated to appeal to common cravings — tasty by design, but it's all a trick," Dr. Stephen Devries, a preventative cardiologist, wrote in a recent article on the American Medical Association's website. "For example, our bodies are naturally drawn by evolution to the sweetness of fruit because of its associated nutritional value ... ultraprocessed foods draw on the craving for sweetness but are largely devoid of the nutritional value historically associated with that taste."
Devries is not involved in the lawsuit.
"There is currently no agreed upon scientific definition of ultra-processed foods," Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy for the Consumer Brands Association, an industry group representing food and beverage makers, said in a statement. "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."