How Food Giants Profit From Junk Food and Diet Culture: The Cause and the Problem

Key Takeaways

• Only 14% of Conagra Brands’ brands are marketed as health or wellness.

• Up to 67% of Kellanova’s brands sell unhealthy and indulgent foods.

• 80% of the 61 Kraft Heinz brands analyzed are associated with highly processed and unhealthy food items.

• Only 36% of all Nestlé brands sell healthy products. 

• Unilever has the largest proportion of unhealthy products out of all the companies in this research, with 92% of its brands considered unhealthy. 

• Kraft Heinz produces and markets frozen-ready meals under the WeightWatchers brand, despite WeightWatchers having no control over the formulation or marketing of these meals.

• Health-related messages on food packaging, such as “low-fat” and “added vitamins,” create a “health halo” that makes the product seem healthier than it is.

• 1 in 8 U.S. adults has used a GLP-1 agonist medication like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro at some point, and major food companies are trying to profit off of them. For example, Congara added an “On Track” label on its food items and Nestlé launched a new frozen meal brand specifically targeting GLP-1 agonist users.

• WHO data shows a clear link between childhood obesity and aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods.

Introduction

For decades, food giants have shaped our eating habits and perceptions of health, both through the products they sell and by manipulating the cultural conversation around diet and wellness. However, too few consumers realize that the companies behind their favorite snack foods are also behind the “healthier” options marketed for weight control, reinforcing the illusion of choice. 

Aiming to expose this “dual strategy” of Big Food, we at Delivery Rank investigated how corporations like Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, and Unilever profit from both ends of the nutrition spectrum — flooding shelves with addictive junk foods while reinforcing diet culture with seemingly “healthy” products. You can see our findings below.

Breaking Down the Brand Portfolios

For the purpose of this research, we studied five major food companies: Conagra Brands, Kellanova, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, and Unilever. We found that each of these companies owns weight loss/wellness brands, such as Atkins and Slim Fast, while at the same time selling junk food brands, like KitKat, Pringles, and Ben & Jerry’s. 

For each company, we collected a list of their consumer-facing brands. This gave us an insight into how major food corporations profit from both creating and solving dietary health problems.

Conagra Brands 

Conagra Brands is a leading American food company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Our research showed that 86% of Conagra Brands products are indulgent, ultra-processed foods that are considered unhealthy, while the remaining 14% are wellness brands like Gardein and Earth Balance. This suggests that the company profits from both sides of the health equation. 

Below, you can see a list of all brands owned by Conagra Brands (pulled from information available on its official website).