There is growing distress about the amount of ultra-processed foods in American diets, and the effect eating so many of those foods has on our health. Part of the problem, nutrition researchers say, is that lots of healthy-seeming items—many breakfast cereals, soups and yogurts as well as granola—fall into that category. Recent studies have linked diets high in ultra-processed foods to increased risks of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and depression.
Yet there is no set definition of what makes a food ultra-processed, and scientists are still figuring out exactly why eating a lot of these foods is associated with health problems.
These foods are coming under a microscope as the U.S. government prepares the latest version of its dietary guidelines, which tell Americans which types of foods to eat and how much. For the first time, the government is asking its scientific advisory committee to consider how diets consisting of varying amounts of ultra-processed foods influence body composition and obesity risk.
Food companies dispute the idea that their products are unhealthy and say that packaged food gives people a convenient, affordable way to get nutrients.
Ultra-processed foods now make up a majority of Americans’ diets. About 58% of the calories that U.S. adults and children ages 1 and older consume in a day come from ultra-processed foods, according to an analysis of federal data collected from 2001 to 2018. Among children, the number is higher—and is growing. In 2018, children ages 2 to 19 received 67% of their daily calories from such foods, up from 61.4% in 1999, according to another analysis of federal data.
However, frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and protein bars—the bulk of them ultra-processed according to some experts—are popular for a reason: They are cheap, tasty and convenient.
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Photo illustration: @elenamadeit/The Wall Street Journal
