Big Tobacco’s Role in the Global Rise of Ultra-Processed Foods
The same kinds of research used to make cigarettes more appealing — studying flavor intensity, repeat use, and customer loyalty — was applied to ultra-processed food.
U.S. tobacco companies did not just sell cigarettes; they helped spread ultra-processed foods around the world.
Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds built billion-dollar international food businesses across Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia between the 1980s and mid-2000s. Internal industry documents show they grew these businesses using many of the same strategies they had used to expand tobacco sales, including buying local companies, building joint food and tobacco distribution networks, and applying aggressive marketing tactics.
The companies also applied tobacco-style product development strategies to food. They introduced larger sizes of products to drive greater consumption and developed high-flavor, “light” or low-fat products to appeal to health-conscious consumers and keep them buying.
The takeaway: ultra-processed foods did not spread globally by accident. Tobacco companies used their experience selling addictive products to help build and expand international food businesses, raising important questions about how these products should be monitored and regulated to protect public health.
