By Nick Griffin
If you thought it was only tobacco companies which have been caught making massive profits from products they deliberately made addictive and knew were deadly dangerous, think again. A landmark lawsuit against some of America’s biggest food manufacturers looks set to expose the same reckless corporate greed and contempt for our health.
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The only difference is that the tobacco cover-up was dramatically exposed several decades ago. United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al. was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1999. It proved that the guilty companies had known since at least the 1950s that smoking caused serious health issues. They knew nicotine was addictive, yet suppressed research, manipulated products to increase addiction, and falsely marketed “light” or “low-tar” cigarettes as safer.
The tobacco giants were found guilty of violating the civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act through a decades-long conspiracy to defraud the public. Other cases and devastating judgements followed, with the industry’s guilty secrets laid bare for all to see. Some Americans continue to smoke, but everyone knows the truth, so smokers now make an informed choice and many millions more don’t take the risk at all.
It has taken more than 20 years, but a groundbreaking lawsuit against 10 major manufacturers of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) gives hope that the light of truth is about to shine on the darkest secrets of the food industry. Criticism of fast foods and other UPFs, which has tended to be the preserve of “health food fanatics” and even “conspiracy theorists,” looks set to go mainstream.
The suit, People of the State of California v. Kraft Heinz Company, Inc., et al., was lodged in San Francisco Superior Court in December last year. It accuses the companies of engaging in unfair and deceptive practices that violate California’s unfair competition law and public nuisance statutes.
Drawing explicit parallels to the tobacco industry, the complaint alleges that these manufacturers knowingly designed, engineered, and marketed addictive products high in sugar, salt, and fats, while concealing the associated health risks. This, the suit claims, has contributed to a public health crisis, including widespread obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions.
The 10 defendants are some of the largest players in the food industry: Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelez International, Post Holdings, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé USA, Kellogg (or Kellanova), Mars Incorporated, and ConAgra Brands.
These companies produce popular UPF items like cookies, snacks, sugary sodas, sugary cereals, fast-food and ready-to-eat meals. The lawsuit seeks restitution, civil penalties, and measures to abate the public nuisance, potentially including changes to marketing practices or funding for public health initiatives.
The wealth of damning material includes internal industry documents and scientific evidence showing that the companies use flavor science, additives, and targeted marketing (often to children) to maximize addictiveness, much like Big Tobacco did with cigarettes.
The junk food corporations are pushing back, arguing there’s no agreed-upon scientific definition of UPFs and that their products meet FDA safety standards. The lawsuit could grind on for years, with potential for a massive impact if it succeeds, including billions in damages, regulatory reforms and a sea-change in public awareness of the health dangers of UPFs.
Even before then, enough is known about these industrially formulated products to allow people who have been paying attention to know that they are seriously dangerous. UPFs are made with ingredients not used in home cooking, such as additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, and high levels of added sugars, salts, and saturated fats.
This junk makes up about 60%–70% of calories consumed by U.S. adults and children. While convenient and affordable, extensive research links high UPF consumption to a wide array of serious health issues, often beyond just their poor nutritional profile—processing methods and additives may exacerbate risks through inflammation, gut microbiome disruption and metabolic changes.
Obesity is the most obvious and immediate danger. UPFs are calorie-dense and designed for overconsumption, leading to rapid eating and poor satiety. A 2025 randomized controlled trial showed UPF diets cause weight gain and metabolic harm even when calories are matched to healthier diets. High-calorie consumers face 25%–58% higher risks of obesity.
The high sugar and refined carb content spikes blood sugar, contributing to insulin resistance and the development of type 2 diabetes. This devastating condition doubles or triples your risk of heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. About two-thirds of people with type 2 diabetes die from cardiovascular causes—think clogged pipes leading to sudden cardiac arrest or a leg amputation from poor circulation.
Diabetes causes over 40% of new kidney failure cases. About half of people with long-term diabetes suffer nerve damage; diabetics have a 15 times higher risk of losing a limb.
Diabetic eye damage is the top cause of vision loss in working-age adults. Even more frightening, insulin resistance in the brain links to Alzheimer’s. Studies show a 50%–60% higher dementia risk.
Animal studies suggest additives like emulsifiers alter gut microbiota, increasing long-term disease susceptibility across generations.
The relatively short-term impact alone, however, highlights the urgent need for government action to bring the food corporations to heel, and for Americans to take responsibility for their own health in the meantime. A comprehensive 2024 review of 9.9 million people linked UPFs to 32 health problems. Risks range from 21%–66% higher mortality in some analyses.
With such grim impacts, it’s small wonder that the suicide risk among diabetics is nearly three times higher than normal. But the bottom line is one simple CDC statistic: Type 2 diabetes shortens life by about 10 years on average.
The diabetic death rate is despite the fact that millions of Americans “manage” the condition with drugs. One has to wonder if Big Pharma gives kickbacks to Big Food for all the extra medical business created by their UPFs.
One thing is clear. America’s chronic disease epidemic is not a mystery or an act of God. Junk food, unhealthy in multiple ways—and deliberately adulterated to make it as addictive as possible—is a massive part of the problem. The Big Food corporations know exactly what they are doing, and government should stop them. But, there again, no one actually forces people to buy and eat addictive, toxic garbage. In the end, we all have a choice.
Nick Griffin is a British nationalist commentator and writer. He was chairman of the British National Party (BNP) from 1999 to 2014, and a Member of the European Parliament for North West England from 2009 to 2014. Since then, Griffin has remained active in British politics despite being vilified for criticizing rampant immigration. You can read his work on Substack at “Nick Griffin Beyond the Pale” and on Telegram t.me/NickGriffin.
