This episode of Food Safety Five provides a deep dive into the revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ novel focus on “highly processed foods,” how the choice in terminology sidesteps ongoing federal consideration about how to define and regulate “ultra-processed foods” (UPFs), potential implications of the guidelines’ advice against “highly processed foods,” and how potentially forthcoming definitions and policy on UPFs may differ.

News Articles:

• Eat Real Food: New U.S. Dietary Guidelines Name and Shame ‘Highly Processed Foods’
• Regulating UPFs as a Category May Have Unintended Consequences, Researchers Say
• Food Industry Stakeholders Share Input on FDA, USDA’s Intent to Define UPFs
• California Enacts Law Defining Ultra-Processed Foods, Will Ban UPFs in Schools
• FDA, USDA Issue Joint RFI to Address the Risks of Ultra-Processed Foods

Image credit: realfood.gov