Sidley represented Kraft Heinz in securing a dismissal in a groundbreaking product liability action against 11 major food companies challenging the manufacturing and marketing of so-called “ultra-processed foods” (“UPFs”).
This was the first personal injury suit of its kind in the United States, filed initially in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (removed to federal court in E.D.P.A.), alleging that the nation’s largest food and beverage manufacturers were responsible for plaintiff’s Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease because they allegedly developed, manufactured, and marketed “hyper-palatable,” unhealthy products the plaintiff consumed.
Although this is an important win for food and beverage defendants, the ruling is likely to have significant implications across the product-liability spectrum, particularly in cases where a plaintiff alleges that a product or combination of products caused their multi-factorial disease.
The Sidley team was led by Michelle Ramirez, Heidi Levine, Alan Rothman, Christopher Eiswerth, Morgan Branch, and Alicia Garten.
