They knowingly addicted a generation to cigarettes – now research shows Big Tobacco has also fueled America’s obesity crisis.
A study earlier this month found that for decades, foods like Teddy Grams and Hawaiian Punch, sold by tobacco giant manufacturers, were up to 80 percent more likely to be ultra-processed than comparable foods from non-tobacco companies.
These ‘hyper-palatable’ foods (HPF), also known as ultra-processed foods, are filled with fat, sodium, sugar and hard-to-pronounce additives and have been linked to several long-term health problems, such as dementia and early dead.
About sixty years ago, when the government passed regulations around cigarettes, tobacco companies ventured into the food sector to diversify their portfolios. This resulted in the acquisition of leading companies such as Nabisco and Kraft.
Researchers found that during this period, tobacco-owned foods were 29 percent more likely to be classified as fat and sodium HPF and 80 percent more likely to be considered carbohydrate and sodium HPF than foods from brands not owned by tobacco companies.
Mountains of research show that eating too many processed foods dramatically increases the risk of premature death, dementia and heart disease
Although tobacco companies no longer produce food, the research team called for better regulation of ultra-processed foods, comparing them to tobacco products before restrictions were imposed.
“These products have become very prevalent in the American food environment today. Despite growing scientific evidence regarding the addictive properties of HPF, there are no federal regulations regarding the accessibility of HPF,” the University of Kansas researchers wrote.
“The state of the food environment for American consumers bears a striking similarity to the American environment in the 1950s during the tobacco epidemic, before the U.S. federal government regulated the availability of tobacco products.
“Similar efforts are needed to regulate the availability of HPF, in light of our evidence indicating that these same tobacco companies may have been influential in shifting the profile of American foods toward greater hyper-palatability.”
The study, published in the journal Addictionlooked at food brands owned by tobacco companies between 1980 and 2001.
Ultra-processed foods were classified as fat and sodium HPF or carbohydrate and sodium HPF, meaning they had elevated levels of those nutrients.
The team used data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to identify which food brands were owned by tobacco companies Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds between 1988 and 2018. Kraft, Nabisco, and Oscar Meyer, which make products like Teddy Grams, Lunchables, and Kool-Aid were among the most popular. They compared these foods to 587 similar products sold by competing non-tobacco-owned brands.
They found that during this period, tobacco-owned foods were 29 percent more likely to be classified as fat and sodium HPF and 80 percent more likely to be classified as carbohydrate and sodium HPF than foods from brands not owned by tobacco companies.
“Companies that specialized in making addictive tobacco products led the development of the American food system for (more than) two decades,” the researchers wrote.
During processing, raw materials are added or changed, for example by storing them in oil or adding sugar or salt.
Foods like apples are usually exactly as they occur in nature and are classified as minimally processed.
Processed foods, such as applesauce, have undergone at least one processing process that has changed their original form.
Ultra-processed foods have undergone multiple levels of processing and are usually packed with extra hard-to-pronounce fats, colors and preservatives. They target reward systems in the brain, similar to those activated by tobacco products and illicit drugs.
Microwave meals, snack mixes and ice cream are common examples.
These foods have become ubiquitous in the American diet.
a 2022 For example, a study by Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute found that 73 percent of the food supply in the United States is ultra-processed.
And a study published in Limits in nutrition found that more than 60 percent of calorie intake in the US comes from these foods.
Mountains of research show that eating too many processed foods dramatically increases the risk of premature death, dementia and heart disease.
A 2022 study published in the journal Neurology, for example, found that a 10 percent increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods could increase the risk of dementia.
Moreover, a large cohort study in France found that the same increase in ultra-processed foods led to an increased risk of breast cancer.
And a few studies by researchers in Spain And France found a link between consuming ultra-processed foods and an increased risk of premature death.
Although tobacco companies no longer have a stake in food production, the study authors believe that other companies have reformulated their food to make it as ultra-processed and addictive as the food sold by their competitors.