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The Big Tobacco Playbook Comes for Your Oreos
Without fail, any corporation accused of conspiring against public health will be compared to Big Tobacco. When oil companies downplayed the threat of climate change, they were allegedly following in the footsteps of cigarette manufacturers. The NFL’s strategy for disputing the link between football and concussions has similarly been likened to the tobacco industry’s actions. The online-gambling industry has supposedly acted like Big Tobacco, as have the tech industry and the plastic industry.
Earlier this month, one such comparison ended up in a lawsuit. In the first such case of its kind, San Francisco sued several of the nation’s largest food companies — including Kraft Heinz, Nestle USA, and PepsiCo — alleging that they had copied the tobacco industry’s playbook by deliberately engineering processed food to be irresistible and then concealing the risks. “They used Big Tobacco tactics to research, design, and sell addictive products,” David Chiu, the city attorney, said at a press conference.
What is this comparison really saying? An executive focused on selling more Oreos or cans of Mountain Dew might have an interest in encouraging unhealthy dietary habits, but that is not self-evidently the same as the misdeeds of the tobacco industry, which for decades covered up the evidence that cigarettes cause cancer while continuing to sell what’s been called the most dangerous consumer product ever.
How Artificial Food Coloring Affects Children’s Behavior and Health
Artificial color additives are frequently incorporated into processed foods and drinks for their vivid, stable hues and consistent appearance. The most common certified dyes include Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), and Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue). Red No. 40 appears in sports drinks, candy, condiments, and cereals, whereas Yellow No. 5 is used in candy, soft drinks, chips, popcorn, and cereals. Yellow No. 6 is often found in candy, sauces, baked goods, and preserved fruits, while Blue No. 1 is present in ice creams, canned peas, packaged soups, popsicles, and icings.
These dyes are approved for use by major regulatory agencies, although their permitted applications and labeling requirements vary by jurisdiction. Children experience higher weight-normalized exposure to synthetic colorants compared with adults due to lower body mass and greater consumption of dye-rich foods. Developmental immaturity of hepatic enzymes and intestinal transport systems can alter biotransformation and elimination, potentially increasing systemic exposure to dye metabolites.
In children with autism spectrum disorder, restrictive eating patterns may increase the risk of micronutrient deficiencies, including zinc deficiency, which can impair metallothionein-mediated antioxidant defenses. Consumption of high–dye-density products such as syrups, gummies, and brightly colored beverages can bring intake near or above acceptable daily intake thresholds in some children.
These Kitchen Items May Be Contaminating Your Food With Chemicals
When Americans eat a burger, they aren’t just biting through bun, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Instead, the burger — or its packaging, or the utensil used to cook it — also likely contains a blend of chemicals scientists believe harm human health. PFAS. Phthalates. BPA. Flame retardants. These chemicals act on the body in multiple ways — confusing hormones, disrupting immune systems and boosting cancer cells. But they all have one thing in common: They are intimately linked to plastic.
Couch cushions, rugs and carpets are made of polyester fibers; furniture and flooring is coated in plastic laminates. The vast majority of food is wrapped in plastic packaging, and Americans cook with plastic spatulas on plastic-coated pans. Some of these chemicals are known to disrupt pregnancies, triggering birth defects and fertility problems later in life; others have been linked to cancer and developmental problems.
The Washington Post used a comprehensive database, built by scientists in Switzerland and Norway, of 16,000 chemicals linked to plastic materials to see how people interact with chemicals in their everyday lives. Of those, scientists say, more than 5,400 chemicals are considered hazardous to human health. Researchers believe that many of these chemicals are harming Americans even at typical levels of exposure.
SNAP Benefits Limited as States Crack Down on Processed Foods
Highly processed foods and drinks are on the chopping block amid new restrictions on what some SNAP recipients can buy at the grocery store in 2026. By the end of next year, nearly 20 states will have implemented limits on the types of food Americans can purchase under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Waivers from the Department of Agriculture will restrict the purchase of items like soda and candy.
Florida’s waiver will be the first to go into effect on Jan 1. According to a map from the department, waivers have also been approved for Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana and South Carolina. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the waivers give states more control and protect children from highly processed foods.
Beyond food restrictions, the Trump administration is tightening work requirements and eligibility rules for SNAP, a move that’s already affecting recipients nationwide. In states such as Oregon, federal work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents are now in effect statewide, limiting benefits to three months unless work or training requirements are met. New York already enforces similar rules, and officials are watching closely as federal SNAP oversight increases across the U.S.
2 Salad-Linked Listeria Outbreaks Show Need for Routine Surveillance
Two genetically unrelated U.S. outbreaks of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to packaged salads from two different firms caused 30 illnesses, 27 hospitalizations, and four deaths over eight years, according to a new report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers and collaborators published in Emerging Infectious Diseases recently.
Outbreak A was detected via PulseNet in 2019, initially with five cases identified in five states. The investigation ended within that year, but was reopened when other states had similar detections via PulseNet in 2020 and 2021.
Outbreak B began in 2021, when PulseNet identified a cluster of 10 clinical isolates related to water-sediment isolates collected in the Salinas Valley of California. That outbreak was tied to 10 cases in eight states (Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia).
“Both outbreaks highlight the ongoing potential for L. monocytogenes infections as a result of consuming contaminated packaged salads, especially for high-risk consumers,” the authors added.
