The American Journal of Public Health has released a new issue focusing on ultra-processed foods (UPFs), revealing that big tobacco companies used strategies originally developed for cigarettes to market UPFs, including products like Lunchables aimed at children. The parallels between UPFs and cigarettes include formulation and marketing designed to drive excess consumption, as well as a growing body of evidence linking UPFs to health risks such as cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, and cognitive decline.
Health Risks of Ultra-Processed Foods
During an AJPH press briefing, Cindy Leung, a public health nutrition professor at Harvard, stated that individuals with diets high in UPFs had a 58% higher risk of developing dementia, a 46% higher risk of mild cognitive impairment, and a 47% higher risk of either outcome. Leung emphasized that these findings come from observational studies, but argued they are significant and biologically plausible, with strong theories explaining how UPFs may cause these conditions.
Tobacco Strategies Applied to Food
The research builds on a study in Milbank Quarterly, which described how tobacco companies like RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris used their cigarette playbook to sell UPFs after acquiring companies such as Nabisco and Kraft. Strategies included optimizing carbohydrate and fat formulations for rapid delivery, maximizing hedonic impact, and creating products that provide a quick reward that fades, encouraging repeated consumption.
Tera Fazzino, a psychology professor at the University of Kansas, examined over 100 previously secret industry documents and concluded that tobacco companies used the same strategies for their international food businesses. They not only repeated old formulation and marketing tactics but also aggressively acquired small food companies. For example, "king-sized" food items imitated "king-sized cigarettes," and "light" cigarettes were developed to retain health-conscious customers, later leading to "light" and "reduced-fat" UPF products.
Lunchables and Consumer Psychology
Laura Schmidt, a health policy professor at UC San Francisco, noted that Lunchables were developed using big tobacco strategies. After Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988, it launched Lunchables nationally. Product designers used consumer-driven product development, employing psychological research to understand unconscious wants and needs. Lunchables were designed to fulfill children's desire for independence, autonomy, and play.
Policy and Industry Responses
Marion Nestle, a nutritionist and public health professor emerita at New York University, praised the "Make America healthy again" (Maha) movement for drawing attention to UPFs, though she acknowledged it is more feelings-based than science-based. Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutrition professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, echoed this sentiment, noting that Maha deserves credit for shifting the narrative away from personal responsibility to the food industry's role in marketing these products, especially to children.
However, Nestle and others noted that the Trump administration has made policy changes that could worsen the problem, such as failing to redirect corn subsidies toward whole fruits and vegetables. Corn subsidies have led to heavy reliance on high-fructose corn syrup, a key UPF ingredient. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps people afford whole foods, but Nestle pointed out that the current administration is reducing SNAP enrollments, which goes in the wrong direction.
After Kraft launched Lunchables under Philip Morris, it became independent and later merged with Heinz to form Kraft-Heinz. Philip Morris rebranded as Altria. Neither Altria nor Kraft-Heinz responded to requests for comment.
