Big Food vs. the People

The People NEWSROOM: FOOD SYSTEMS
Co-published with Lucy Jones for Lighthouse Reports

Contributors: Thin Lei Win, Emmanuel Freudenthal, Monica Camacho, Sarasvati Nagesh Thuppadolla, Elena DeBre, Tessa Pang, Wael Eskandar, Lu Min Lwin, Viktoriia Maksymova, Charles Boutaud, Margot Gibbs, and Beatriz Ramalho da Silva.
Additional Support: Alexandria Bordas, Andrea Rincón, Andrew Gregory, Ankit Raj, Armando Talamantes, Ed Wanderley, Edier Buitrago, Gloria Riva, Guilherme Cavalcanti, Irene van den Berg, Jahnavi Sen, Jesse Kathan, João Peres, Kennia Velazquez, Laura Martínez Mejía, Maria Martha Bruno, Nicoletta Dentico, Paulina Macias Ortega, Philip Baker, Rodrigo Oliveira, Scott Slater, and Thalita Pires.

Date: July 22, 2026

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The Hidden War on Public Health

Globally, poor dietary habits result in millions of annual deaths and generate tens of billions of dollars in medical expenses. These costs disproportionately impact the most economically disadvantaged populations. Children are especially at risk, as they lack the autonomy to make their own nutritional choices.

To combat this crisis, governments have implemented regulations to:

• Increase transparency regarding ingredients.
• Restrict the marketing of "junk food" to minors.

While industry giants like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mondelez claim to be partners in health solutions publicly project a helpful image, they are privately engaging in a legal war. They have sued governments to stall, weaken, or completely dismantle health laws, claiming these regulations infringe upon their corporate rights.

The Scope of the Investigation

This international collaboration between media outlets and health academics examines how transnational corporations use legal threats and lawsuits to obstruct health initiatives in six key nations:

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Key Findings

Our investigation uncovered a systemic pattern of legal obstruction:

• Volume of Litigation: A total of 239 lawsuits were filed between 2010 and 2025.
• Temporal Burden: These cases represent a staggering $\text{Total Litigation} = 595 \text{ years}$ of legal battles, draining government resources.
• Concentration of Power: Among identifiable private plaintiffs, the ratio of lawsuits is: $\frac{\text{Cases by Top 9 Groups}}{\text{Total Private Cases}} > \frac{1}{3}$ This group is led by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mondelez.

Targeted Policies

The industry specifically targeted the following:

• Front-of-pack nutritional labeling
• Restrictions on junk food ads for children
• Soda taxes
• Taxes on ultra-processed foods (UPFs)

The "Chilling Effect": Beyond the financial cost, these lawsuits intimidate policymakers. Many officials who wish to improve public health avoid doing so because they lack the budget to fight multi-billion dollar corporations in court for years.

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Methodology

We developed a comprehensive dataset of legal challenges to nutritional laws from 2010–2025.

{
  "dataset_criteria": {
    "inclusion": "Regulations improving population nutrition",
    "verification": "Official court records, legal databases, reputable secondary sources",
    "special_case": "India (included lawsuits against influencers acting as transparency agents)"
  }
}

Exclusions:

• Cases involving non-manufacturers (e.g., fresh produce).
• Appeals regarding fines or judgments unrelated to the actual public health policy.

Academic Partnerships: This research was conducted with the following institutions:

1. University of Caldas (Colombia)
2. Robert Kennedy Human Rights Center (USA)
3. University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)
4. University of Sydney (Australia)

The project integrated data from El Poder del Consumidor (Mexico), the FULL database (O’Neill Institute/Global Health Advocacy Incubator), CAJAR (Colombia), and ACT (Brazil). A scientific paper will accompany these reports.

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Regional Analysis

🇲🇽 Mexico: The Epicenter

Mexico faces a severe crisis: a 2022 survey indicated that 41% of adolescents and over one-third of schoolchildren are overweight. Consequently, it is the primary battleground for Big Food, hosting 193 of the 239 lawsuits.

Corporate Arguments: Companies claimed that labeling laws:

• Violated constitutional rights.
• "Demonized" their products.
• Infringed upon consumer rights.

"A local Pepsi bottler argued that in certain rural areas of Mexico, it was safer to drink soft drinks than the available water."

Despite these claims, judges have rejected many of these arguments.

🇧🇷 Brazil: The Long Game

In Brazil, obesity affects more than 1 in 4 adults, and nearly 1 in 9 children are overweight.

Tactics used in Brazil:

• Duration: Some of the 17 lawsuits have lasted nearly two decades without resolution.
• Anonymity: Almost all plaintiffs are industry associations rather than individual brands. This allows companies like Coca-Cola, Ferrero, and Kellogg's to avoid direct brand damage.

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Visualizing the Corporate Strategy

Partner Organizations