Like junk food? Live in San Francisco? If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, it might be a good time to stockpile Snickers and load up on Lunchables, as your home city has set its sights on unhealthy snacks and drinks and the companies that manufacture and market them.
In what would be a landmark case if successful, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on December 2, 2025, against 10 of the largest manufacturers of ultra-processed food and beverages. The suit alleges that the defendants have violated California’s Unfair Competition Law by employing deceptive marketing and sales tactics that promote items they know to be unhealthy and dangerous. Chiu is seeking unspecified damages for the health care costs incurred by local governments in treating residents who have suffered ill health due to these products.
While past performance is no guarantee of future success, the San Francisco city attorney’s office has struck gold before with groundbreaking health-related litigation. Buoyed by previous lucrative awards from lead paint manufacturers, tobacco companies, and opioid producers, the City by the Bay is looking to become healthier and wealthier.
If You Are What You Eat, I’m Butylated Hydroxytoluene
Believing that the liberal-leaning City of San Francisco and the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could agree on anything is a risky proposition, but the public health battle against ultra-processed products makes for strange bedfellows. As Chiu quipped to the New York Times, “even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
Processed foods, defined as any raw agricultural commodity altered from its original state, have been a part of human history for almost all of its existence. For example, washing, cutting, or heating any type of food product is considered a basic form of processing. Ultra-processed foods may begin with basic ingredients, but the alteration from their original form and inclusion of often unhealthy additives have been cited as a primary cause of chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, colorectal cancer, and heart disease.
Often derided as “junk food,” ultra-processed foods gained popularity in the 1980s. While some argue that a clearer definition is needed, most rely on the NOVA classification system. The marketing of ultra-processed foods and drinks tends to be brightly colored and eye-catching, and the combination of low prices, enjoyable flavors, and ease of consumption makes them highly desirable. Some studies estimate that more than 55% of calories consumed by Americans come from ultra-processed foods.
While breakfast cereals, snack chips, and sugary drinks are among the most notorious ultra-processed foods, other food supply culprits include frozen pizzas, flavored yogurt, mass-produced baked goods, and condiments such as ketchup and barbecue sauces. San Francisco’s lawsuit states that the public health crisis fueled by ultra-processed foods is most prevalent in low-income families, who are often forced to opt for the least expensive food option at their local grocery store instead of healthier (but more expensive) whole foods.
It’s Fog City, Not Artery-Clog City
The list of defendants sounds like a recitation of the companies stocked in the most colorful and best-selling aisles of markets, convenience stores, and big-box warehouse outlets. The drink and food companies named in San Francisco’s suit are all members of the Consumer Brands Association and include:
- The Coca-Cola Co.
- PepsiCo
- The Kraft Heinz Company
- ConAgra Brands
- General Mills, Inc.
- Kellanova (Kellogg)
- Mondelez International
- Post Holdings
- Nestle USA
- Mars Incorporated
In addition to violating the Unfair Competition Law, the lawsuit filed by Chiu’s office also accuses the defendants of being public nuisances under the laws of San Francisco and California. It charges that despite being aware of the health risks, the named companies have repeatedly chosen to worsen the health conditions of San Francisco residents by promoting and encouraging the overconsumption of their products. The suit claims that defendants have made their products as addictive as possible through additives like sugar, salt, and harmful dyes.
While the lawsuit doesn’t specify an amount for the civil penalties it seeks, San Francisco likely has high expectations. Previous victories in health-related legal actions have earned the city more than $1 billion in awards. At the very least, Chiu may be hoping to force ultra-processed food and beverage manufacturers to change their marketing and even the composition of their products. Regardless of the outcome, don’t expect to see Pringles at any of the San Francisco city attorney’s holiday parties.
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