Ultra-processed food consumption is down a bit, but still more than 50% of U.S. diet
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Americans are eating slightly less ultra-processed foods. Still, though, we get over half of our calories from heavily manufactured foods, which are mostly unhealthy. You know, foods such as potato chips or sugary breakfast cereals. The stuff that tastes really good. NPR consumer health correspondent Yuki Noguchi is here. So what's changing in how Americans eat?
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Well, we're moving in small directions, in the right direction. You know, our consumption of ultra-processed foods has gone up and then down over the last eight years. But overall, it is slightly down, and it's even decreasing among young people between the ages of 1 and 18, which is the group that eats the most of these kinds of foods and drinks. So that's encouraging, although still nearly two-thirds of their caloric intake come from ultra-processed foods. And even among adults over 18, that figure is 53% now.
MARTÍNEZ: Fifty-three, wow. But that's still less, though...
NOGUCHI: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: ...Right, than previous years.
NOGUCHI: It is down slightly, yes. But, you know, it's down between two and three mean percentage points for each of those groups over the past eight years. And, you know, this is the latest data from 2021 to 2023. And since then, as you know, there has been a lot more talk about ultra-processed food. So we'll see if this trend holds or maybe even accelerates.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in particular, has talked a lot about ultra-processed foods and also chronic disease.
NOGUCHI: Right, right, because it's linked to so many of them, including, you know, diabetes, obesity and cancer and things like that.
MARTÍNEZ: But - so - OK, so how can you tell whether you're eating an ultra-processed food? I mean, so - I mean, let's just imagine a hamburger, for example. The bun is processed. The tomato probably isn't. So does that count?
NOGUCHI: Yeah. You've touched on a huge problem, which is that there is no standard understanding of how we define an ultra-processed food. And also, as you point out, not all of them are equally unhealthy, right? In general, ultra-processed commonly refers to manufactured foods laden with fat, sugar, salt, calories or additives like preservatives. But yogurt, for example, is something that might check a lot of those boxes and yet not be considered unhealthy the way, you know, corn chips might be. The fact is, it is nearly impossible, anyway, to avoid ultra-processed foods in your diet because over 70% of the U.S. food supply is estimated to have at least some ultra-processed component in it. So avoiding it is obviously a very uphill battle.
MARTÍNEZ: So, OK, how are you supposed to know? Like, reading the label, Yuki? I mean, that sounds like a lot of work.
NOGUCHI: Exactly. How is the consumer supposed to know? And to this point - actually, this morning, the American Heart Association released a roundup of the research on ultra-processed foods, and they talk about the need for clearer, easier labeling so we can all know. And it calls for more research, also, to look into things like, you know, is it the chemical additives that make these foods damaging, or is it the act of processing itself that changes how food is digested or metabolized? And so, you know, we need more research.
MARTÍNEZ: One of the worst feelings in the world is trying to read the label and not have your reading glasses with you. You can't. That's an awful - I just don't buy it. I just - I don't want to buy it.
NOGUCHI: That's a different issue.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. NPR's Yuki Noguchi. Thanks a lot.
NOGUCHI: All right, thank you.
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