Morgan & Morgan Joins San Francisco in Lawsuit Against Largest Manufacturers of Ultraprocessed Foods

Food conglomerates allegedly flooded the country with addictive ultraprocessed foods with little nutritional value, allegedly knowing they would make Americans sick

(San Francisco, CA) - Morgan & Morgan, America’s largest injury law firm, is part of a group of attorneys and advocates, including San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, who announced a lawsuit today against some of the country’s largest manufacturers of ultraprocessed foods, alleging that they are specifically engineered to be addictive and cause chronic disease.

The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court against additional national leading ultraprocessed food producers including Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelez International, Post Holdings, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestle USA, Kellogg, Mars Incorporated, and ConAgra Brands.

The proliferation of ultraprocessed foods in the American diet has been allegedly linked to a host of serious health conditions, allegedly imposing untold health care costs on Americans as well as cities and states across the nation. The lawsuit alleges the food industry knew that their products were making people sick, but they allegedly continued to devise and market increasingly addictive and harmful products in order to maximize profits.

“This case is about protecting the health and well-being of San Franciscans and establishing a precedent that will benefit communities across the country. Morgan & Morgan has tracked the dangers of ultra-processed foods for years. Based on our investigation, executives at the companies producing these products allegedly have known for decades that the products contribute to childhood illness. Our goal is to hold these companies responsible for any efforts to make ultra-processed foods as addictive as possible, and we aim to ensure that public health takes priority over corporate profits,” said Mike Morgan, Managing Partner at Morgan & Morgan.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the People of the State of California in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges the defendants’ unfair and deceptive acts in connection with the sale and marketing of ultra-processed foods violate California’s Unfair Competition Law and public nuisance statute. The People seek an order, among other things, enjoining Defendants from allegedly deceptive marketing and requiring ameliorative action to address the effects of their previous deceptive marketing. The lawsuit also seeks restitution and civil penalties to remedy the alleged public nuisance and help local governments offset astronomical health care costs associated with ultraprocessed food consumption.

Almost one year ago, on December 10, 2024, Morgan & Morgan filed the first-ever lawsuit against food industry behemoths Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelēz International, Inc., and others in Philadelphia on behalf of a teenager who has been diagnosed with Type 2-diabetes and non-fatty liver disease. Although the judge dismissed that lawsuit, ruling it did not include enough specifics about which products the plaintiff consumed, Morgan & Morgan has since filed an amended complaint that the Court is currently considering.

The plaintiffs in the San Francisco case are represented by Morgan & Morgan, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, Andrus Anderson and DiCello Levitt. The complaint can be found here.

About Morgan & Morgan

As America’s largest injury law firm, with lawyers licensed in all 50 states, Morgan & Morgan has recovered more than $25 billion for over 700,000 clients. Throughout the United States, our attorneys fulfill our “For The People” commitment in over 50 practice areas, including national mass torts and class actions, labor and employment, product liability and dangerous drugs, among many others. Hundreds of law firms throughout the U.S. refer thousands of cases through our Morgan Connection platform. Our firm has taken on some of the biggest corporations across the globe, including BP, Facebook, Google, Monsanto, Norfolk Southern and Eli Lilly, and recovered billions in complex national litigation, including $1.8 billion in the Porter Ranch Gas Leak case in California. Learn more at https://www.forthepeople.com/.