‘If all else fails, sue’: how ultra-processed food firms are using the courts to obstruct health rules

Mondelēz, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are among companies to have brought legal actions over health policies, an investigation has found. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The world’s biggest ultra-processed food companies have filed scores of lawsuits challenging government policies that tackle junk diets, the Guardian can reveal.

Ultra-processed food (UPF) is linked to harm in every major organ system of the human body and poses a seismic threat to global health. Worldwide consumption is rising and UPF now makes up as much as half the average diet in many countries, including the UK, the US and Australia.