In 1963, a U.S. baccy institution bought Hawaiian Punch. It marked the opening of the baccy industry's introduction into the nutrient assemblage and led to an detonation of hyperpalatable, chemically-engineered foods — and a melodramatic emergence successful obesity.
Follow Berkeley Talks, a Berkeley News podcast that features lectures and conversations astatine UC Berkeley. See all Berkeley Talks.
In the early 1960s, R.J. Reynolds, 1 of the largest and astir profitable baccy companies successful the U.S. astatine the time, wanted to diversify its business. Its trading strategies had been highly successful successful trading its apical brands, for illustration Camel, Winston and Salem cigarettes, and executives thought, Why not use the aforesaid strategies to, say, the nutrient industry?
So successful 1963, R.J. Reynolds acquired Hawaiian Punch. It marked the opening of the baccy industry’s introduction into the nutrient sector.
In the pursuing decades, R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris expanded aggressively into the nutrient industry, acquiring awesome brands, for illustration Del Monte, Nabisco, General Foods, Kraft and 7UP, wherever they produced hyperpalatable, chemically-engineered foods now known arsenic ultra-processed foods, aliases UPFs. These products were marketed particularly to children and different susceptible groups.
In Berkeley Talks episode 229, Laura Schmidt, a professor of wellness argumentation successful the School of Medicine astatine UC San Francisco, discusses really ultra-processed foods — for illustration cookies, sodas, instant noodles, food sticks and cereals — are a nonstop bequest of the baccy industry, and are responsible for a melodramatic emergence successful obesity, glucosuria and different chronic diseases crossed the country.
“About 60% of the calories successful Americans’ diets are from ultra-processed foods,” says Schmidt, who said astatine a UC Berkeley arena successful May. “In the mid-’80s, erstwhile we spot ultra-processed foods starting to standard up successful the American nutrient supply, we besides spot obesity starting to really rise. That is the infinitesimal erstwhile immoderate of the largest nutrient companies are owned by baccy companies.”
This talk took spot connected May 5, 2025, and was co-sponsored by the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) and Berkeley Public Health. It was moderated by Isabel Madzorera, an adjunct professor successful food, nutrition and organization wellness astatine Berkeley Public Health and co-faculty head astatine the Berkeley Food Institute.
Watch a video of the arena connected the Berkeley Food Institute’s YouTube page.
Read the transcript.
Listen to different episodes of Berkeley Talks
English (US) · 
Indonesian (ID) · 
