ADDICTION IS PROFITABLE –
une 14, 2026 – After reviewing tobacco industry archives, U. of C., professor Laura Schmidt found that when cigarette companies acquired major food brands in the 1980s, they carried over the same approaches used in product development and marketing. Philip Morris owned Kraft General Foods, while RJ Reynolds controlled Nabisco.
“The very technologies that were used to figure out how to optimize the addictive properties of nicotine using added sugar and artificial flavorings — that core technology was transferred from the tobacco industry to ultra-processed food development,” Schmidt said.
The researchers said those tobacco-style methods also appeared in food marketing, including larger portion sizes and “light” or reduced products meant to keep health-conscious consumers from giving up the products entirely.
