The plaintiffs’ bar, long a financial engine for the left, has a new target to shake down: American food companies that make “ultra-processed foods.”
These frivolous claims threaten to enrich trial lawyers while driving up costs for Americans — in other words, inflation by litigation. Congressional Republicans should act swiftly to pre-empt this abuse.
For background, the left has started attacking food companies for making “ultra-processed foods” while dressing them up as consumer protection. After all, who could be against healthy food?
The problem is that the very term “ultra-processed foods” is a vague, pseudoscientific catch-all buzzword designed to be weaponized to vilify staples like cereals, snacks, and frozen meals that millions rely on for affordability and convenience. Are some “ultra-processed foods” unhealthy? Absolutely. But foods are healthy or unhealthy based on their nutritional contents, not whether they are “processed.”
The plaintiffs’ bar, flush with cash from past jackpot verdicts, sees an opportunity to extract billions from companies through settlements or judgments. This isn’t about public health, it’s about padding lawyers’ wallets. These same attorneys, who pour millions into Democratic campaigns and progressive causes, are using the courts to wage ideological warfare against American businesses while knowing full well the ripple effects will hit consumers hardest.
Food companies need to step up their advocacy work and engagement in the political process to make this case. Whatever differences these companies have with Republicans, we are the only thing standing between them and the Morgan & Morgan attorneys wanting to take their profits to buy third vacation homes. There is a reason countless elected Republicans have spoken out in support of energy companies facing abusive litigation, yet few Republicans have stood up for the food industry.
If these lawsuits succeed, companies will face massive legal costs, forcing them to raise prices or cut jobs to stay afloat. This is hidden inflation — price hikes driven not by market forces, but rather by judicial overreach.
As Republicans, we campaigned on economic stability and lower costs, ut if we allow plaintiffs’ lawyers to drive up grocery costs, we — not the left — will take the blame. It would be political malpractice. Food price spikes, especially on everyday goods, will hit working families hardest.
The good news is that elected officials are aware of the risk. Capitol Hill sources tell us that Republicans have already commissioned polls to gauge whether voters are satisfied with whether inflation is coming down in the food sector.
The ideal solution would be for Congress to pass a law with a robust pre-emption to block these abusive lawsuits. But if that is not possible, Republican officials can start by calling out this abuse for what it is: a national problem. Even without 60 Senate votes, Republicans will have another reconciliation opportunity later this year where states could be incentivized to block these lawsuits with additional federal funding.
Republicans have rightly pushed back on the plaintiff bars’ preposterous “climate” lawsuits aimed at energy companies. It is time to do the same with this new form of lawfare.