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Exposed: Big Food’s 239 lawsuits against life-saving policies Our investigation, #BigFood vs The People reveals how food giants use tobacco-style legal tactics to challenge public health regulations around the world. www.lighthousereports.com/investigatio...

Between 2010 and 2025, at least 239 lawsuits were filed against public health policies in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, the US, India, and the UK. Food companies lost most of the time, but these cases add up to an extraordinary 595 years of litigation.

Companies sometimes tried to hide their names. Of the cases brought by identifiable companies, more than one in three were linked to just 9 parent groups, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and confectionery giant Mondelez.

Governments were forced to spend years defending measures intended to protect public health. Big Food lost more than 80% of the cases examined. But losing does not mean the lawsuits had no effect: legal challenges delayed the implementation of some public health measures for years.

Experts say these tactics resemble those long used by the tobacco industry. Nutrition expert @marionnestle.bsky.social told us: “Food companies are well trained. They follow the tobacco industry playbook to the letter. When all else fails, sue.”

Unhealthy diets are projected to cost the world US$3 trillion annually by 2030, with vulnerable communities bearing the heaviest burden. Read “Big Food vs The People,” published in eight countries alongside an upcoming academic paper.

Read more from our partners Quinto Elemento Lab, @ojoioeotrigo.bsky.social, @apublica.org, @ftm.eu, @cuestionpublica.com, @thewire.in, Santa Cruz Local, L’Espresso, @ilfattoalimentare.bsky.social, @theguardian.com

These lawsuits are harming our health. Learn more in this analysis featuring expert interviews from @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

80% of the lawsuits we found were in Mexico, targeting food transparency rules, many failed. Quinto Elemento Lab found companies argued warnings “demonised” their products. One Pepsi bottler argued in court that soft drinks were better than water in some rural areas. quintoelab.org/project/mexi...

⅔ of US adults are overweight, and the #MAHA movement helped propel Trump to the presidency. Yet soda companies still fight taxes on sugary drinks. Santa Cruz Local found that the industry recruited Black and Latino leaders to lobby against such taxes in two cities.

Ferrero may be famous for its chocolates, but L’Espresso and @ilfattoalimentare.bsky.social analyse the reasons for its less palatable lawsuits around the world, and their roots in Italian agroindustry. ilfattoalimentare.it/big-food-con... lespresso.it/c/inchieste/...