For decades, food industry mega corporations have knowingly filled grocery store shelves with ultra-processed foods (UPFs)—products designed to addict consumers and generate maximum profit instead of providing adequate or even safe nutrition. These so-called “foods” dominate modern diets, making up 57% of caloric intake for adults and a staggering 67% for children in the U.S., according to the American Medical Association.
That means two of every three things your child eats aren’t real food. Instead, they’re ultra-processed edible substances packed with sugar, unhealthy fats, artificial additives, and chemicals to keep them hooked and demanding more.
What Are Common UPFs?
Modern grocery stores contain far more UPFs than minimally processed or whole foods. Common UPFs you might find in your local grocery store include:
- Packaged snacks
- Carbonated soft drinks
- Instant noodles
- Frozen meals and pizzas
- Ready-made meals
- And many more
A 2024 study in the British Medical Journal states, “These products are characterized as industrial formulations primarily composed of chemically modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance, and durability, with minimal to no inclusion of whole foods.”
In addition to lacking the nutritional values of whole foods, they also pose dangers to the people who consume them—especially children.
The Rise of Type 2 Diabetes in Children
Type 2 diabetes was extremely rare in children before the widespread availability and proliferation of UPFs in the U.S. food system. Due to increased consumption of UPFs, children are being diagnosed with this disease that was once almost entirely exclusive to adults at an alarming rate.
The connection between UPFs and childhood metabolic diseases is undeniable. These highly engineered products spike blood sugar, disrupt metabolism, and lead to chronic inflammation, which are all common markers and symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Yet, the corporations behind these foods market them directly to kids using bright colors, cartoon mascots, and deceptive health claims—all while putting these children’s health and futures at risk.
Food Industry Negligence
The food industry knows UPFs are dangerous. It knows these products contribute to obesity, heart disease, and early-onset diabetes.
Despite these dangers, it continues to push them while strategically targeting low-income communities and children through aggressive advertising and bright, shiny packaging featuring popular characters from children’s movies and television shows.
Part of the food industry’s strategy for ensuring children demand their products—while keeping parents in the dark about the dangers—includes:
- Funding misleading research to downplay the risks of these products
- Fighting labeling laws and regulations that would warn parents
- Creating addictive products that override natural satiety cues in the stomach and brain
This isn’t just corporate greed—it’s negligence. These companies have knowingly endangered millions of children for the sake of profit.
Juvenile Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis? You May Be Owed Compensation.
If you were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before your 18th birthday, or if your child is now battling this often-preventable disease, you are not alone. Food manufacturers have put profits over people for decades, and countless families throughout the U.S. are paying the price.
The defective product lawyers at Ferrer Poirot Feller are building claims for families who were harmed by dangerous and addictive UPFs. In doing so, we’re not only getting compensation for those families and children—we’re also holding the negligent mega corporations that manufacture, distribute, and market these harmful products.
Contact us today for a free case review.