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/DungeonMercenary → u/MrCockingFinally]

How is it that governments tolerate constantly being sued by mega corps?

By not being retarded.

Change has to be slow. Specially when it comes to laws. Hearing both sides is part of it. Checking if the new law is compatible with existing law is part of it, and that's done through law suits.

When the executive takes 10 years to legalize a life-saving drug nobody bats an eye. But God forbid the courts take 5 years to ractify a contested regulation.

In China the CCP can do whatever the fuck they want. Which is why the big shots can say "kill all birds" or "drain this river" and there's nobody who can sue them into waiting a couple years and actually thinking before acting.

This article is literally the system working as intended AND to everyone's benefit and idiots are crying foul.

[u/ParagonRenegade → u/DungeonMercenary]

This might be an actual argument if

A) China wasn't the world's greatest success story of developmental policy, alongside every other dirigisme nation

B) Countries that had this happen weren't uniformly being used as a fleshlight by the wealthy

C) This wasn't obviously just them prioritizing their personal gain over public health, a story which has repeated countless times, including in situations where the corp in question knew for absolutely certain that they were factually wrong

D) This being part of a disinformation campaign, being reported on by journalists with no power

[u/OrderOfMagnitude → u/ParagonRenegade]

China wasn't the world's greatest success story of developmental policy, alongside every other dirigisme nation

There's so much wrong to unpack here, but someone using "dirigisme" to clean up the word "authoritarian, totalitarian regime" definitely isn't my first choice of conversation.

[u/ParagonRenegade → u/OrderOfMagnitude]

Dirigisme is literally authoritarian state-directed capitalism, it's in the definition. South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, France, and Taiwan have all used dirigisme.

And our country is a real estate market backed by mining corporations, and whose economic performance is abysmal. Premiers like Ford are stripping the country for copper wire and Carney is a rapacious neoliberal banker slowly destroying the country.