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Kraft Heinz sues Chubb and Liberty Mutual over UPF coverage denials
The complaint says Kraft Heinz has been named in about a dozen individual suits since December 2024, along with a separate action by San Francisco seeking medical cost damages.
Kraft Heinz has filed lawsuits against Chubb and Liberty Mutual after the insurers refused to cover the food company’s defense costs tied to claims that ultra-processed foods harmed consumers, Insurance Business reports.
In the underlying litigation, Kraft Heinz is accused in roughly a dozen individual suits since December 2024, with plaintiffs alleging bodily injury including Type 2 Diabetes and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease from repeated consumption of Kraft Heinz products. The company is also named in a separate action brought by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu on behalf of the People of California, which accuses Kraft Heinz and other food companies of unfair competition and public nuisance and alleges the conduct contributed to a public health crisis costing the city tens of millions in medical treatment expenses.
Insurance Business reports that the policies at the center of the dispute include primary commercial general liability coverage sold by Chubb from 2006 to 2025, with per-occurrence limits of $2 million and aggregate limits of $7 million for much of that period, and higher limits for later policy periods. Chubb also issued umbrella policies from 2020 to 2025, and the complaint says Kraft Heinz bought coverage running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Kraft Heinz says the policies require the insurers to defend it against lawsuits alleging bodily injury, including claims where the lawsuits are groundless, false, or fraudulent. The complaint also cites Liberty Mutual’s primary CGL coverage issued to Kraft Heinz’s predecessor Heinz from December 2009 to December 2015, including $2 million per-occurrence limits and a $2 million per-occurrence deductible, according to Insurance Business.