U.S. — The American Journal of Public Health published a new issue revealing that big tobacco companies used cigarette marketing and formulation strategies to sell ultra-processed food products, including Lunchables. The issue describes how companies such as RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris applied tactics developed for tobacco to the food industry after acquiring major food brands like Nabisco and Kraft.
Laura Schmidt, a health policy professor at UC San Francisco, said during the journal’s press briefing that Lunchables were developed using big tobacco strategies after Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988 and launched the product nationally shortly thereafter. Schmidt added that product designers at Philip Morris used a technique called consumer-driven product development, which employed psychological research to understand consumers’ unconscious wants and needs. “Lunchables were designed to fulfill children’s underlying drive for independence, autonomy and play.”
Tobacco industry strategies extended beyond branding to product formulation. Companies optimized combinations of carbohydrates and fats for rapid delivery and maximum “hedonic impact,” creating items that “produce a quick hit of reward that fades” to encourage repeat consumption. They also introduced “light” and “reduced-fat” versions of ultra-processed foods—mirroring the “light” cigarettes developed to retain health-conscious smokers—and even mimicked cigarette formats by creating “king-sized” food items.
Tera Fazzino, a psychology professor and addiction researcher at the University of Kansas, said she “examined over 100 previously secret primary industry source documents” from the tobacco industry and concluded they “use the same strategies that they use to develop their international tobacco businesses to develop their international food businesses.” Cindy Leung, a public health nutrition professor at Harvard, stated during the briefing that people whose diet contained high quantities of ultra-processed foods “had a 58% higher risk of developing dementia, a 46% higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, and a 47% higher risk of either of those two outcomes.” Leung emphasized that the findings on ultra-processed foods and cognitive decline are based on observational studies but are “biologically plausible.”
Philip Morris has since rebranded as Altria. Kraft later became an independent company and merged with Heinz to form Kraft-Heinz. Neither Altria nor Kraft-Heinz responded to requests for comment.