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Between 2010 and 2025, at least 239 lawsuits were filed against public health policies in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, the US, India, and the UK. Food companies lost most of the time, but these cases add up to an extraordinary 595 years of litigation.

Companies sometimes tried to hide their names. Of the cases brought by identifiable companies, more than one in three were linked to just 9 parent groups, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and confectionery giant Mondelez.

Governments were forced to spend years defending measures intended to protect public health. Big Food lost more than 80% of the cases examined. But losing does not mean the lawsuits had no effect: legal challenges delayed the implementation of some public health measures for years.