SFALP Helps File Suit Against Ultraprocessed Food Companies
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against some of the country’s largest manufacturers of ultraprocessed foods on Dec. 2, alleging they knowingly engineered and marketed addictive products to children while obscuring health risks from the public. Student Gila Glattstein ’26 assisted with the case as part of the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP), a clinic that pairs Yale Law School students with deputy city attorneys to develop and litigate affirmative cases.
“Working with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office has been a rewarding experience that highlights how strategic litigation can drive real change,” Glattstein said. “It’s especially motivating to see how a case like this can strengthen consumer protections across California.” Glattstein did extensive legal and factual research to help the city develop its case theory and craft the complaint. As part of the clinic’s Case Development team, she and second-year law students Elizabeth Tran, Andre Jimenez, and Nellie Sun work on developing promising cases, identifying key facts, and hammering out potential legal theories. They learn to think creatively about case theory and draw on many different areas of law. “This experience has taught me one of the most important skills of lawyering: how to translate real world harms into a case the legal system can do something about,” Sun said.
According to the complaint, ultraprocessed foods are former whole foods that have been broken down, chemically modified, combined with additives, and reassembled using industrial techniques. The complaint cites growing scientific consensus on the link between consumption of ultraprocessed foods and alarming rates of Type 2 Diabetes and related diseases, especially in children. Filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of the People of the State of California, the case alleges unfair and deceptive acts in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law and public nuisance statute. It seeks to halt deceptive marketing and secure restitution and civil penalties to help offset the public health costs associated with ultraprocessed food consumption.
The complaint describes the dramatic increase in consumption of ultraprocessed foods as the food industry consolidated in the late 20th century. While grocery aisles appear to offer endless choice, the City argues consumers are often choosing between different versions of similarly engineered products produced by a small number of mega corporations. The complaint points to a wave of acquisitions beginning in the 1960s, when RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris expanded into food and beverages, bringing knowledge about addiction and consumer manipulation into the industry. The complaint also alleges long-running marketing strategies targeting children through cartoons, cross-promotions with major entertainment and toy brands, and intensive ad saturation.
Students on SFALP’s Case Development team have the opportunity to help develop multiple case ideas over the course of each semester. In past years, they have assisted with San Francisco’s case against direct marketing company Personnel Concepts for impersonating government actors in order to trick small businesses into buying its products, as well as the makers of Vanilla gift cards, Incomm Financial Services, Inc. (Incomm), for deceptive and unfair competition practices, among other cases. Tran, who has spent a full year on the team, emphasized the skills she has learned through the work and the sense of purpose her clinic work provides. “As a Bay Area native, contributing to the Case Development team has been especially meaningful. Working closely with the City Attorney’s Office has provided an unparalleled opportunity to strengthen my legal judgment — building an investigation from the ground up, assessing potential legal theories, and shaping a strategic litigation approach — all while making a tangible impact on consumer protection efforts back home.”
