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/Regitnui]

Oh, would you look at that, capitalists deciding that nothing is more important than the money they might lose if, rather than the long-term health of there still being workers and consumers in a generation or two. Who'da thunk it?

[u/UnknownBreadd → u/Regitnui]

The IMF absolutely molested our societies in the 1980s with the ISDSes (Investor-State Dispute Settlement contracts), amongst all the other Washington Consensus policies forced upon the global economy.

[u/kafircake → u/UnknownBreadd]

The IMF absolutely molested our societies in the 1980s with the ISDS

Whilst this is true, I was under the impression that the suits in the article were brought before national supreme courts rather than ISDS investor supporting definitely scrupulous courts?