Kraft, Coca-Cola Defeat Lawsuit Over Ultra-Processed Foods

A teenager with diabetes and a liver disease accused the companies of designing addictive products.

An employee arranges bottles of Coca-Cola at a store in Alexandria, Va., on Oct. 16, 2012. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

A federal judge on Aug. 25 dismissed a lawsuit against major food and beverage manufacturers, ruling that a teenager who sued the companies did not meet evidentiary standards for the suit to proceed.

Bryce Martinez, 19, said in a complaint lodged in 2024 that Kraft and other companies designed ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to “hack the physiological structures of our brains,” resulting in addictive products that he consumed regularly. That led to the development of Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, he said.

U.S. District Judge Mia Perez said Monday she was “deeply concerned about the practices used to create and market UPFs,” and the negative impact they have had on children.

But Martinez, who resides in Philadelphia, failed to provide evidence linking consumption of UPFs to his health issues, she ruled.

“Plaintiff does not allege how often he consumed Defendants’ products, in what amounts, or when. Neither does he allege when he ate Defendants’ products in relation to when he received his diagnoses or even began experiencing symptoms. Indeed, the 668-paragraph complaint contains only one substantive fact about Plaintiff: he was 16 when diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” she wrote, adding later that following few additional details put forth during oral argument, “there are simply not enough facts to suggest that Defendants’ products caused Plaintiff’s harm.”

Perez dismissed the case, granting a motion from Kraft Heinz; Mondelez, which makes Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers; Coca-Cola; and several other companies.

The defendants had said that the claims “fail for lack of causation.”

The companies did not respond to requests for comment on the ruling.

The suit had accused the companies of designing and marketing products to Americans despite knowing of their risks. The companies were drawing from the “cigarette playbook” utilized by tobacco companies in the past to design addictive products and hide the truth from the public, the suit alleged.

Most calories consumed by Americans come from UPFs, a category that includes heavily processed foods such as commercial breads and soda, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said over the summer. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has directed government scientists to study the foods, and a commission led by Kennedy said in May that UPFs are a contributor to the rise of chronic disease in children.

General Counsel Stacy Papadopoulos of the Consumer Brands Association, an industry group representing food and beverage makers, said in a statement that the lawsuit should never have been filed.

“Classifying foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed misleads consumers and exacerbates health disparities,” she said.

Mike Morgan, an attorney for Martinez, said in a statement that his client and counsel were evaluating options for next steps in the case.

“The scientific evidence demonstrating the addictive nature of these products is compelling, and we remain confident in the merits of our case,” Morgan said.

Reuters contributed to this report.