Current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend “Nutrient-dense” foods like vegetables and whole grains while recommending against foods high in sodium, added sugars and saturated fats – but no direct guidance on ultra-processed foods is provided.
Scientific experts are urging consumers to limit ultra-processed foods due to the link between these foods and health problems such as obesity, adult diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Lack of guidelines on ultra-processed foods creates loopholes for ultra-processed foods – such as chicken nuggets, chips, frozen dinners, sugary cereals and fast foods – to meet otherwise carefully nutritional guidelines developed, according to The Washington Post.
Emerging science on ultra-processed foods will be reviewed by the U.S. Guidelines Committee, which could change the dietary guidelines that are expected to be adopted. published in 2025 by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Human Services.
During its review, the committee will determine whether ultra-processed foods influence “growth, height, body composition, risk of overweight and obesity, and weight loss and maintenance,” according to The Washington Post.
Research highlights dangers of ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed foods offer little or no nutritional value and are full of a mixture of artificial colors, unnatural flavors (like blue raspberry), fats, added sugars, refined starches and other additives , For example. Harvard Health. Hot dogs, sodas, packaged cookies and crackers, deli meats and fast food are all considered ultra-processed.
“If you can make it at home in your kitchen, then it’s not ultra-processed,” Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of nutrition, food studies and public health at NYU, told the Washington Post. “When I give talks on this subject, I find that people understand the concept straight away. There is not much problem in defining it.
These types of foods are often considered “empty calories” due to their lack of nutritional content. A study published in the British Medical Journal reports that nearly 58% of calories consumed in the United States come from ultra-processed foods and nearly 90% of energy intake comes from added sugars.
“It’s important to emphasize that not all calories are equal,” said Dr. Neha Sachdev. American Medical Association. “So the calories you might get from eating an apple, for example, are very different from the calories you might get from eating an apple bar.
“These may be equivalent in number, but what ultra-processed calories represent and the nutrition they provide to your body is different.”
Frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods leads to several potential adverse health effects. Recent studies have linked high consumption of ultra-processed foods to increased risk of dementia, cardiac disease, stroke, obesity, cancer and premature the death.
Dietary Guidelines and Lunch in Public Schools
Dietary guidelines influence foods served in public schools, food assistance programs, government offices and military bases, according to The Washington Post. The National School Lunch Program – which feeds approximately 30 million American children – serves foods like Lunchables, Cheez-Its and other highly processed junk foods because they currently meet nutritional needs despite their additive content.
“It’s important that dietary guidelines start to talk about this,” Barry M. Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told The Washington Post. “I hate the fact that children are being fed super-processed junk food in schools when they should be eating healthy foods. We make them fat and unhealthy.
US dietary guidelines are lagging behind
A 2023 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports that the United States is behind the times on ultra-processed food policy. Countries like Brazil, Israel and Belgium have already updated their national dietary guidelines to take ultra-processed foods into account.
“The emerging policy language in the United States on ultra-processed foods is consistent with international policies on the subject. We urge further discussion and consideration of ultra-processed foods for future policymaking,” said Jennifer Pomeranz, associate professor of public health policy and management at the NYU School of Global Public Health and first author of the study.
“The United States should consider processing levels in school food policies…to ensure that U.S. dietary guidelines reflect evidence on ultra-processed foods and health.”
