San Francisco files landmark lawsuit against companies over ultra processed foods
In a historic first, the San Francisco city attorney has filed a lawsuit against some of the largest vacuum cleaner manufacturers in the United States. ultra processed foods He says it’s making Americans sick.
Companies named in the lawsuit, obtained and reviewed by ABC News, include Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestle, Kellanova, Kellogg, Mars and ConAgra.
City Attorney David Chiu spoke at a news conference at San Francisco City Hall on Tuesday, amid a table of popular products from crackers to breakfast cereals to frozen dinners to whipped cream, to announce legal action against 10 food and beverage companies.
Chiu said the lawsuit, filed in the California Supreme Court, aims to hold the companies “accountable for their unfair and deceptive practices and violations of California’s unfair competition law and public nuisance laws.”
KGO – PHOTO: City Attorney David Chiu speaks at a press conference in San Francisco on December 2, 2025.
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Chiu argued that food is creating a health crisis that leads to serious chronic diseases, which ultimately burdens U.S. cities.
“We have reached a milestone in scientific research on the harms of these products,” Chiu said, citing studies such as the recently published scientific research. Lancet papers He said this confirms “there is a very clear link between ultra-processed foods and chronic diseases.” [such as] type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart disease, kidney disease, colorectal cancer, Crohn’s disease, [and] depression.”
ABC News reached out to many of the brands in the lawsuit, and they responded with an emailed statement from their trade group, the Consumer Brand Association.
“Makers of America’s trusted household brands are empowering Americans to make healthier choices and increase product transparency. That’s why food and beverage manufacturers continue to introduce new product options with increased protein and fiber, reduced sugar and sodium, and no synthetic color additives,” Sarah Gallo, the group’s senior vice president of product policy, said in the statement. “There is currently no agreed scientific definition of ultra-processed foods, and attempting to classify foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed or demonizing foods by ignoring their full nutritional content misleads consumers and further increases health inequalities.”
KGO – PHOTO: This screenshot from a video shows ultra-processed foods at a press conference in San Francisco on December 2, 2025.
“Companies adhere to stringent evidence-based safety standards established by the FDA to deliver safe, affordable and convenient products that consumers rely on every day,” he added.
In his speech, Chiu said that cities and counties have to pay the cost of treating diseases that may be caused by the products in question for people in the society.
Pointing to the colorful packaging adorning store shelves, Chiu claimed the companies were copying “the addiction science and marketing techniques that fill the big playbook on tobacco.”
Tactics include cartoon mascots and “integrated marketing strategies with toy manufacturers and child-focused media companies” that specifically target low-income communities of color and their children, he said.
Ultra-processed products now make up 70% of the American food supply. New York Times reported.
“Many ultra-processed foods do not appear to be unhealthy, but they are falsely marketed as healthy,” Chiu said, claiming that companies are creating chemicals to make foods highly addictive.
Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE – PHOTO: In this Aug. 14, 2024 file photo, Pringles potato chips are displayed at a store in New York.
Chiu said the goal of the lawsuit is to “obtain damages and fines to offset the enormous costs borne by governments and public health costs resulting from chronic diseases resulting from ultra-processed foods.”
The city attorney’s office has had previous success in public health cases, including a landmark 1998 decision in which it won $539 million in damages from tobacco companies and $21 million from lead paint manufacturers after a 19-year trial.
Earlier this year in Philadelphia, a private lawsuit over ultra-processed foods filed by a young consumer diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease at age 16 was dismissed after a judge ruled that the claim did not include detailed information about the products and consumption timeline.
-ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.
