Processed Food Lawsuit

Lawsuits have been filed by people who blame ultra-processed foods on serious health problems like childhood diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Processed Food induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was diagnosed with childhood diabetes or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Food Poisoning Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are edible substances that look and taste like real food, but the ingredients are industrially-manufactured additives that you would not normally recognize as “food.”

You can identify UPFs by looking at the ingredient list. There will be at least one ingredient that you would never find in a home kitchen, like preservatives or dyes. They may also have a very long shelf-life.

They may also have brightly-colored, sophisticated packaging. All of these factors combine to create highly profitable (low-cost ingredients, long shelf-life, aggressive branding), convenient (ready-to-eat), hyper-palatable products.

Examples of Highly-Processed Foods

Here are examples of foods that commonly contain ultra-processed ingredients:

Soda and juice boxes
Sweetened yogurt
Packaged snack foods (cookies, chips, crackers, etc.)
Candy
Mass-produced packaged bread and buns
Margarine
Breakfast cereal
Energy drinks
Instant noodles
Chicken nuggets
French fries
Processed meats (hot dogs, ham, bacon, SPAM, etc.)
Frozen meals
Condiments
Granola bars, protein bars, snack bars
And many more

How Do Companies Make Ultra-Processed Foods?

The ingredients in UPFs have been significantly altered from their natural state through various processes. They may be chemically modified, combined with additives, and reassembled using technology.

The final product will often have few (or zero) whole ingredients. Many UPFs are high in calories, fat, salt, and sugar, but low in nutritional value — unless nutrients are added back in, like with enriched flour.

UPFs are generally high in calories and other unhealthy ingredients like refined sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. They are usually lower in protein, fiber, and nutrition compared to minimally-processed foods.

Childhood Obesity

Eating these foods is cheap and convenient, but it is less filling due to the lack of nutrition, and the high levels of sugar can cause spikes in blood-sugar levels. This leads to more hunger, which can fuel overeating and weight-gain. Over time, eating a diet high in UPFs can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems.

Childhood Diabetes

Millions of children in the U.S. eat UPFs on a daily basis. Tragically, the rising popularity of UPFs has been accompanied by a rise in childhood diabetes, obesity, and other long-term health problems.

Ultra-Processed Foods Increase Obesity Risk for Children

Eating ultra-processed foods can contribute to diabetes in children because these foods have a lot of sugar, fats, salts, and other unhealthy ingredients, which can lead to weight-gain. Childhood obesity is a major risk-factor for type-2 diabetes and liver disease.

Why Are Children At Risk?

Children are also more likely to eat a large amount of ultra-processed foods in one sitting (or multiple times per day), especially snack foods.

Children may not be very physically active, and they may not have the self-control to stop eating when they are full. This can lead to spikes in blood-sugar levels, which is a risk-factor for diabetes.

The problem is exacerbated by companies who use aggressive marketing, such as cartoon characters, brightly-colored food dyes, or fruity-flavors to entice children into eating more. Unhealthy eating habits that start in childhood are hard to break in adulthood, which creates a lifelong customer for companies who sell processed foods.

Are Ultra-Processed Foods Addictive?

There is growing evidence that ultra-processed foods are deliberately designed to be addictive — similar to cigarettes and alcohol — by food companies. These foods are designed to be “hyper-palatable,” so they can trigger intense cravings and a loss of control over eating behavior.

According to Chairman Sanders.

“Let’s be clear: The twin crises of type-2 diabetes and obesity in America are being fueled by the food and beverage industry that, for decades, has been making massive profits by enticing children to consume unhealthy products purposely designed to be overeaten.”

White Bread & Breakfast Cereals

Highly-processed white bread and breakfast cereals are some of the most common UPFs in the American diet. On a typical list of ingredients, you might see enriched flour, high-fructose corn syrup, emulsifiers, preservatives, dough conditioners, and additives like dyes, colors, flavors or flavor enhancers, thickeners, or artificial sweeteners.

Hard To Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods in “Food Deserts”

Ultra-processed food is an invention of modern industrial technology. The popularity of UPFs exploded in the 1980s, and it now dominates the American diet and grocery store aisles nationwide.

People of all socioeconomic classes eat UPFs, but the issue is particularly serious for low-income people who live in “food deserts,” which are urban or rural areas where unprocessed food is expensive or hard to find (specifically fresh fruits or vegetables). Millions of people live in food deserts, where the main sources of food are fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, and “Dollar Stores.”

Health Risks Linked to Ultra-Processed Foods

Type-2 diabetes
Obesity
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Heart disease
Cancer
High blood pressure
And more

Processed Foods Lawsuits

One of the first ultra-processed food lawsuits was filed in December 2024 by Bryce Martinez, a man from Pennsylvania who developed type-2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease when he was 16 years. In the 148-page lawsuit, lawyers compared American food companies to Big Tobacco.

Food Companies Targeted in Ultra-Processed Food Lawsuits

Coca-Cola Co.
Conagra
General Mills
Kellanova
Kraft Heinz
Mars
Mondelez International
Nestle USA
PepsiCo
Post Foods
WK Kellogg
And more

Do I Have a Processed Food Lawsuit?

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