People want to avoid ultra-processed foods. But experts struggle to define them
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The American diet is killing us. On that point, public health experts largely agree.
And in recent years, people who want to make Americans healthier — across the ideological spectrum — are targeting ultra-processed foods, which make up the majority of what Americans eat.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said these foods are "poisoning" Americans and blames them for the chronic disease epidemic. California last month became the first U.S. state to ban certain ultra-processed foods from school lunches. And the Trump administration is working on its own definition of ultra-processed foods to help guide federal policy — and consumers. One recent survey found the majority of U.S. shoppers say they're trying to avoid these foods.
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But here's the dilemma: Public health and nutrition experts don't agree on a definition of ultra-processed foods that will actually help make Americans healthier.
'They're not all junk foods'
The term ultra-processed food was developed by Brazilian researchers to describe the level of processing foods undergo. They came up with the NOVA classification system.
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