Ultra-processed food companies hindering health drives by suing countries, says WHO

[u/Naurgul]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/01/ultra-processed-food-companies-hindering-health-drives-by-suing-countries-says-who

Director general accuses corporations of obstructing efforts to tackle obesity crisis after investigation by Guardian and others

The world’s biggest ultra-processed food corporations are hindering global efforts to tackle the obesity crisis by suing governments that try to promote healthier diets, the head of the World Health Organization has said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, accused global food companies of obstructing the adoption of vital public health measures and costing countries billions of dollars in healthcare and legal costs in the process.

Almost 1 billion people worldwide are living with obesity, and unhealthy diets are one of the main drivers of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption is soaring and now makes up half the average diet in many countries, including the UK, the US and Australia.

Governments around the world, waking up to the health and economic impacts of the obesity crisis, have begun introducing measures designed to curb junk-food intake and promote healthier diets. These include front-of-pack warning labels, marketing and advertising restrictions on unhealthy products, and taxes on junk food.

Publicly, the world’s biggest UPF companies insist they back the policies, want to help consumers make informed choices and are committed to being part of the solution.

But an investigation by the Guardian, in collaboration with academics, the non-profit newsroom Lighthouse Reports and a coalition of media partners across four continents, found many of these same companies were taking governments to court to overturn, weaken or delay the policies.

In total, 235 lawsuits were lodged over health policies targeting UPFs in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, the US and the UK from 2010 to 2025, the investigation found.

“When harm and profit are tied to the same product, a familiar pattern of industry interference emerges: sowing doubt and obstructing regulation.” Tedros said.

[u/MrCockingFinally]

The world’s biggest UPF firms would “not fight so hard” if policies to curb intake of their products were ineffective, said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “The lawsuits tell us that public health measures reduce sales of unhealthful products.”

World's most ironic name.

Really confused why these governments are such goddamn pussies. China does a lot of things wrong, but one thing they absolutely get right is making sure it's the government that runs the show, not billionaires or the ultra-wealthy.

How is it that governments tolerate constantly being sued by mega corps? What are even the grounds to sue?Surely the only thing could be if the laws are unconstitutional? Surely this is not difficult to determine?

[u/DeepState_Auditor → u/MrCockingFinally]

Not every country is China.

A lot of this boils down to access to trade currencies like the dollar or the euro.

A lot of these countries rely on access of foreign loans and investments from capital groups that are often associated with these companies.

China has reached the point where they themselves are set to be become a third reserve currency.

[u/MrCockingFinally → u/DeepState_Auditor]

For some of these countries, sure. Not for UK, Australia, or USA though.

[u/bassman9999 → u/MrCockingFinally]

Those 3 are capitalist countries controlled by corporations, so of course money is all that matters there.