How tobacco-style product design shaped a kids’ lunchbox staple

Tobacco Industry Contributions to the Development of Ultraprocessed Food in the United States, 1985‒2007: A Case Study of Lunchables

A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health traced the product development of the pre-packaged meal brand Lunchables under the tobacco firm Philip Morris Companies (PMC).

In 2023, two new formulations of Kraft-Heinz’s Lunchables qualified for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in the United States (US). However, Kraft-Heinz withdrew Lunchables from the NSLP a year later, citing poor market performance, following negative publicity, Consumer Reports findings of high sodium and heavy metals, and reported school-district nutrition concerns. About 20% of children in the US have obesity, which has nearly quadrupled since before ultra-processed foods (UPFs) like Lunchables became popular in the country.

In adult clinical trials, diets high in UPFs have been causally linked to weight gain and overeating. The largest food companies in the US between 1963 and 2008 were owned by tobacco firms (Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds), during which period cigarette marketing strategies were applied to promote UPFs. As such, understanding the UPF designs and formulations is necessary to understand why these products cause weight gain and overeating, and to help develop appropriate guardrails.

Philip Morris Lunchables Case Study

In the present historical case study and analytic essay, the author Prof. Laura A. Schmidt, of the University of California, San Francisco, assessed the technical contributions of tobacco companies in the design and formulation of UPFs. Specifically, the study traced the product development of Lunchables using previously undisclosed company documents. PMC, now known as Altria Group, acquired General Foods in 1985, when Lunchables were still in pre-market development. At the time, PMC already owned a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) company and an alcohol subsidiary.

PMC created Kraft General Foods (KGF) by merging Kraft and General Foods in 1987. By 1989, KGF’s leadership comprised tobacco executives, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) by 1990. In 1988, a technical synergies committee was formed to reduce the costs and increase the efficacy of research and development (R&D) across PMC. The committee streamlined R&D across the six alcohol, food, and tobacco subsidiaries of PMC throughout the 1990s.

In one project, genetically engineered yeast was used to improve the texture of frozen foods. Other projects aimed to develop innovative flavor encapsulation technology and natural food flavors. In 1991, PMC acquired an SSB company and added aseptic juice pouches to create Lunchables Fun Pack, and in 1995, it acquired Del Monte's pudding division and launched Lunchables with Pudding.

Tobacco Synergies Shaped UPFs

Lunchables became a $200 million food category by then, with technical synergies credited for making the product the fastest-growing business at KGF. Notably, sharing product development expertise between food and tobacco product developers was pivotal to optimizing synergies. Specifically, PMC created cross-functional teams comprising market researchers and product engineers.

This approach enabled decision-making at each stage of product development. In an R&D symposium, Lunchables product developers revealed how a consumer-driven strategy optimized their product. Focus groups with children suggested that the product could meet children's desires for autonomy and play. As such, a food playground paradigm was adopted in early Lunchables prototypes.

Consumer testing also focused on busy mothers or female workers aged 25–49 years, with mothers weighing convenience (e.g., ease of packing and cleaning) against health concerns. However, as concerns about childhood obesity increasingly emerged in the 1990s, Lunchables faced challenges. In response, PMC adopted a better-for-you strategy for health-conscious consumers, originally developed to produce filtered Marlboro cigarettes, and launched Low-Fat Lunchables in 1995.

PMC’s broader low-fat and fat-replacement research program included applying carbon dioxide supercritical fluid technology (CO2 SFE) and neuroperception research to chemical flavor additives to develop more palatable fat-replacement ingredients. The paper argues that CO2 SFE could be applied across product lines, including the extraction of nicotine from tobacco and fats from processed meats. Neuroperception research helped compensate for flavor loss in low-fat foods, just as it did in low-nicotine cigarettes.

UPF Regulation and Public Health

In sum, the study highlights the instrumental role tobacco companies played in the food industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Because producing UPFs and cigarettes were similar businesses, PMC benefited from technical synergies, enabling the co-evolution of both tobacco and food product lines. Policymakers and public health practitioners treat UPFs, tobacco, and alcohol as distinct health determinants.

Moreover, research on the health hazards of these products is largely conducted in isolated scientific silos, leading to distinct policy recommendations. As such, accelerated efforts are needed to understand synergies between UPFs and tobacco in public health practice and research. Overall, the findings underscore the need for public health research and policies to extend current tobacco regulatory models to UPFs, including consumer protection approaches and possible legal remedies.