Whether they realize it or not, most Americans go through a day—often even a single meal—without consuming ultra-processed foods.
From sugary cereals at breakfast to frozen pizza at dinner, along with snacks like potato chips, soda, and ice cream, ultra-processed foods make up about 60% of the diet in the United States. For children and teenagers, it’s even higher—around two-thirds of what they eat.
This is concerning because ultra-processed foods are linked to a range of negative health effects, from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, depression, dementia, and more. A recent study suggested that eating these foods may increase the risk of early death.
However, nutrition science is complex, and most research so far has found associations, not proof, regarding the health consequences of these foods.
Food manufacturers argue that processing helps make food safer, more accessible, and affordable, allowing them to offer a wider variety of nutritious options in a convenient way.
Even if the science were clear, it’s hard to know what practical advice to give when one study estimates that ultra-processed foods make up 73% of the food supply in the United States.
The Associated Press asked several nutrition experts, and here’s what they said:
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?
Most foods are processed in some way, whether by freezing, grinding, fermenting, pasteurizing, or other means. In 2009, Brazilian epidemiologist Carlos Monteiro and his colleagues first proposed a system that classifies foods based on how much processing they undergo, rather than their nutrient content.
At the top of the four-tier scale are foods created through industrial processes and with ingredients like additives, colors, and preservatives that you can’t replicate in a home kitchen, said Kevin Hall, a researcher specializing in metabolism and diet at the National Institutes of Health.
“These are most of the packaged foods you see, but not all of them,” Hall said.
Dr. Nina Prasad, director of the Food Policy Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, said such foods are often cheap and irresistibly tasty.
“They have just the right combination of sugar, salt, and fat that you can’t stop eating them,” Prasad said.
However, the level of processing alone doesn’t determine whether a food is unhealthy or not, Hall noted. For example, whole grain bread, yogurt, tofu, and infant formula are highly processed but are also nutritious.
Are Ultra-Processed Foods Harmful?
This is the tricky part. Numerous studies indicate that diets rich in these foods are linked to poor health outcomes. But this type of study can’t say whether the foods are the cause of the negative effects—or whether something else about the people who eat these foods might be responsible.
At the same time, ultra-processed foods, as a group, tend to contain higher amounts of sodium, saturated fats, and sugar, and tend to be lower in fiber and protein. It’s unclear whether these nutrients alone are driving the effects.
Hall and his colleagues were the first to conduct a small but influential experiment that directly compared the outcomes of eating similar diets made up of ultra-processed and unprocessed foods.
The study involved twenty adults who went to live in a center run by the National Institutes of Health for a month. They were provided with meals consisting of both ultra-processed and unprocessed foods, matched for calories, sugar, fat, fiber, and macronutrients for two weeks each, and were told to eat as much as they liked.
Sure! Here’s a more conversational version:
“The researchers discovered that people who ate ultra-processed foods ended up consuming around 500 more calories a day compared to when they ate whole, unprocessed foods—and they gained weight on average.” How about this:
“During the study, participants lost around 2 pounds (1 kilogram) when they followed their usual diet. But when they switched to eating only unprocessed foods for the same period, they lost about 2 pounds (1 kilogram) again.”
Hall is now conducting a more detailed study, but the process is slow and costly, and results are not expected until late next year. He and others argue that such crucial research is needed to specifically determine how ultra-processed foods affect consumption.
He said, “It’s better to understand the mechanisms that drive these harmful health consequences if they indeed are the driving force.”
Should Ultra-Processed Foods Be Regulated?
Some advocates, like Prasad, argue that the large body of research linking ultra-processed foods to poor health should be more than enough to prompt the government and industry to change policies. She calls for actions such as increasing taxes on sugary drinks, imposing stricter sodium limits on manufacturers, and cracking down on the marketing of such foods to children, in the same way that tobacco marketing is restricted.
Prasad said, “Do we want to risk making our children sick while we wait for this perfect evidence?” Earlier this year, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf touched on this issue, saying at a conference of food policy experts that ultra-processed foods “are one of the most complicated things I’ve ever dealt with.”
He wrapped things up by saying, “We need a strong scientific base and then we have to make sure we stick with it.”
How Should Consumers Handle Ultra-Processed Foods at Home?
“In countries like the United States, it’s tough to avoid heavily processed foods, and it’s not always clear which ones we should focus on, according to Aviva Musicus, the director of science at the Center.”Science in the Public Interest, a group that supports better food policies.”
She said, “The range of heavily processed foods is very broad.”
Instead, it’s better to be aware of the ingredients in foods. She suggested checking labels and making choices that align with current U.S. dietary guidelines.
She said, “We have really good evidence that added sugar is not good for us. “We know that eating too much salt isn’t healthy for us.” We have great evidence that minimally processed fruits and vegetables are really good for us.”