On September 17, Amit Rana spoke with Food Navigator about ultra-processed food litigation. The following is an excerpt:
Between ultra-processed food (UPF) litigation and states rolling out patchwork regulations, food and beverage brands are advised to brace for legal, compliance and operational pressures while a federal UPF definition is in the works, according to one legal expert.
In August, a federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a high-profile lawsuit from December 2024 brought by a teenager against Kraft, Mondelēz, Coca-Cola and others, who claimed their products were engineered to be addictive and caused health issues, like Type 2 diabetes. The judge cited a failure to link specific products to harm, according to Reuters.
Early strategies
Ultra-processed food litigation is still in its “early innings,” according to Amit Rana, partner at Venable. Plaintiffs, he said, are “kind of road testing out a few theories,” and while courts have expressed skepticism towards broad addiction claims, narrow mislabeling and “reckoning” claims remain very much alive.
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