"Without fail, any corporation accused of conspiring against public health will be compared to Big Tobacco. When oil companies downplayed the threat of climate change, they were allegedly following in the footsteps of cigarette manufacturers. The NFL's strategy for disputing the link between football and concussions has similarly been likened to the tobacco industry's actions. The online-gambling industry has supposedly acted like Big Tobacco, as have the tech industry and the plastic industry."
"Earlier this month, one such comparison ended up in a lawsuit. In the first such case of its kind, San Francisco sued several of the nation's largest food companies-including Kraft Heinz, Nestle USA, and PepsiCo-alleging that they had copied the tobacco industry's playbook by deliberately engineering processed food to be irresistible and then concealing the risks. "They used Big Tobacco tactics to research, design, and sell addictive products," David Chiu, the city attorney, said at a press conference."
Comparisons to Big Tobacco frequently arise when corporations face accusations of harming public health, spanning oil companies, the NFL, online gambling, tech, and plastic firms. San Francisco filed a lawsuit accusing several major food companies, including Kraft Heinz, Nestle USA, and PepsiCo, of copying tobacco-industry strategies by deliberately engineering processed foods to be irresistible and concealing the risks. The lawsuit alleges use of tactics to research, design, and sell addictive products. Cigarette risks are well established, while definitions of ultra-processed foods and the precise reasons they prompt overeating remain contested.
Read at The Atlantic
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