You’ve probably seen the headlines: “Ultra-processed foods are making you sick!” and “I quit eating ultra-processed foods and this is what happened!” or “New study ties ultra-processed foods with huge health risk.”
Many familiar and popular foods, including some types of ice cream, snack bars, frozen meals and salad dressing, cereal, baking mixes and soda, are “ultra-processed.” These ultra-processed foods, or UPF, contain one or more UPF ingredients, including artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, emulsifiers, thickening agents and other food additives.
Most UPF ingredients are produced through industrial processes, and are manipulated and combined with these additives through techniques such as moulding and extrusion. Experts agree that food containing these industrial and lab-made ingredients are the hallmarks of ultra-processed food, which also typically contains large amounts of sugar, fat and salt.
And Americans eat a lot of ultra-processed food.
Study after study blames these foods and drinks – many consumed by the average American, in particular kids – for a range of health and social ills.
Several categories of these foods are particularly harmful: certain ready-to-eat meat-, poultry-, and seafood-based products, sugary and artificially sweetened drinks, dairy-based desserts and certain breakfast items.
Obesity is chief among the health problems linked to UPF. Rates of obesity in the U.S. and globally have skyrocketed in tandem with the rising consumption of ultra-processed foods.
UPF are also associated with other metabolic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, Crohn’s Disease and fatty liver disease.
Heart disease and cancer, among other conditions, have been linked to ultra-processed foods. One study showed that the people who ate and drank the most of these items had a 50 percent higher risk of depression than those consuming the least.
More than half of U.S. consumption – and rising
The health problems associated with ultra-processed foods are likely to continue so long as Americans ingest them at the current pace.
The U.S. consumes more UPF than any other industrialized country. These foods make up more than half the typical adult diet in this nation – and rising. In less than two decades, consumption went up sharply, from 54 percent of calories in 2001 to 57 percent in 2018.
The numbers are even higher for young people. UPF makes up two-thirds of kids’ and teens’ calories – 67 percent in 2018, up from 61 percent in 1999.
Experts say ultra-processed food and drinks trick people into eating more of them than they want – that the products, especially soda, are engineered to evoke a desire to consume more. Many UPF are scientifically engineered by food companies to make foods irresistible by triggering the brain’s reward center and interfering with brain signals that would normally prevent overconsumption.
Inequitable supply and impact
In many communities of color and neighborhoods of people living on less income, highly processed food is more accessible than unprocessed, whole foods and fresh produce.
These inequities in turn give rise to disparities in health outcomes. Black and Asian American people experience higher rates of the many health harms associated with consumption of ultra-processed foods.
Economically underprivileged neighborhoods are most exposed to convenience stores, dollar stores and fast food restaurants, hubs of ultra-processed foods where healthy food options may be scarce. Because of a history of systemic racism, the same is also true for many neighborhoods made up primarily of people of color.
Dollar stores, for instance, have become notorious as ready sources of ultra-processed foods, while selling much less fresh produce and other whole foods. They’re especially prevalent in rural areas, communities of color and communities living on lower incomes.
Regulatory state of play
Consumers shouldn’t be forced to shop their way out of this problem. But slow action by the federal government has led to that situation. Agencies have failed to protect consumers: Since 2000, almost all food chemicals – 99 percent – have been approved by the chemical industry, not the Food and Drug Administration.
The Trump administration has touted its commitment to ridding our food supply of artificial chemicals, but the jury is out about how quickly it will act.
Opposition to these foods is getting underway on the legal front. A lawsuit touted as the first of its kind claims 11 huge UPF manufacturers, like Kraft Heintz and Coca Cola, design and market their products to attract children. The plaintiff says consumption of UPF is to blame for the development of Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease at age 16. Other lawsuits are likely to follow.
The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines, the federal government’s recommendations for healthy eating, are likely to be silent on the issue of UPF when they are released at the end of this year. After some discussion, the guidelines’ advisory committee of experts from a range of backgrounds and types of expertise claimed the research linking UPF to poor health is not robust enough.
In the meantime, petitions to the FDA asking it to ban certain food chemicals, filed by a coalition of nonprofit organizations, including EWG, are under review. They include chemicals that can often be found in UPF: titanium dioxide, bisphenol A and butylated hydroxyanisole, as well as cancer-causing substances used to process food, such as benzene and ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride and trichloroethylene. Red Dye No. 3, originally suggested for review, has been banned.
States leading the way
In the absence of federal regulations, states are taking action.
The California School Food Safety Act, signed into law in 2024, bans six harmful food dyes from being served in public schools. It came on the heels of a 2023 state-wide ban on the manufacture, distribution or sale of food containing the chemicals Red Dye No. 3, propyl paraben, brominated vegetable oil and potassium bromate.
California has long been a bellwether state. Now similar actions are sweeping the country, with food chemical bills introduced, debated and in some cases enacted in states from Arizona to Vermont, including Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York.
Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in January directing state agencies to look for new ways to minimize the harms of UPF consumption and reduce the purchase of soda, candy and other types of UPF, including foods that contain artificial dye.
Another new bill in California would build on the state’s two new food laws by banning particularly harmful ultra-processed foods from public schools.
How to lower your consumption of ultra-processed food
Who doesn’t want a little junk food from time to time? As an occasional treat, it likely won’t cause major health problems. The key is to avoid the health consequences that can come from consuming too much. You can:
- Eat primarily foods that are less processed, such as whole grains, beans and legumes, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Many processed foods are made without UPF ingredients and can be part of a healthy diet. If you choose to eat ultra-processed foods, do so in moderation.
- If you buy packaged foods, choose organic whenever possible – they’re made with fewer harmful ingredients, according to peer-reviewed EWG research.
- Study ingredients and nutritional labels to find out what’s in the foods you want to buy. If you can’t identify the ingredients, the product may be ultra-processed and contain potentially harmful chemicals.
- Consult Food Scores, EWG’s searchable database of more than 80,000 foods, to learn more about the products you buy and their ingredients. Products are rated on the basis of ingredient, nutrition and processing concerns.
