Big tobacco helped shape ultra-processed foods : NPR

Key Points:

• Tobacco companies in the 1980s leveraged their expertise in addictive marketing and flavor engineering from cigarettes to aggressively expand into ultra-processed foods, acquiring major food firms like Kraft and Nabisco.
• Research published in the American Journal of Public Health highlights how these companies applied nicotine addiction strategies to make foods like sugary snacks and processed meats hyper-palatable and addictive, contributing to poor health outcomes.
• Studies link high consumption of ultra-processed foods to chronic diseases, cognitive decline, and environmental harm, with major food corporations also identified as significant plastic polluters.
• Public support for government regulation of ultra-processed foods is growing across political lines, suggesting a potential tipping point for policy action similar to the war on tobacco.
• Experts recommend strategies such as state-level regulations, litigation against food companies, and removal of artificial additives to address the health and environmental impacts of ultra-processed foods.