Articles Tagged with ''ultra-processed foods''

Federally defining UPFs could allow U.S. regulatory agencies to pursue specific policies for the category. The importance of processing versus nutrient content and formulation in causing diet-related chronic diseases, as well as the value of defining UPFs, has been heavily debated.

Two topics of increasing regulatory scrutiny—the "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) rule and a federal definition of ultra-processed food (UPFs)—have seen some movement at the U.S. Government's Office of Management and Budget, signaling progress on the Trump administration's food policy agenda.
 

The Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act of 2025 would require health warning labels for certain foods and beverages, prohibit marketing of specified products to children, and expand federal nutrition research and education related to ultra-processed foods.

Going beyond the “ultra-processed foods” debate, the proposal, submitted by observer organization IFT, asks Codex to develop a framework to discern which foods are promoting chronic disease risk from those that are not, building upon existing Codex food categories and risk analysis methods.

This episode of Food Safety Five discusses new research linking sorbitol to fatty liver disease, studies suggesting potential health risks associated with both “natural” and artificial color additives, and a major collection of papers examining the health impacts, policy, and marketing practices behind ultra-processed foods (UPFs).

Tufts University researchers found that people who ate more ultra-processed foods (UPFs) had worse health outcomes, even after accounting for the overall nutritional quality of the foods. 

A collection of studies and editorials published in the American Journal of Public Health presents one of the most comprehensive examinations to date of ultra-processed food (UPF) as a public health crisis shaped not only by nutrition, but by corporate practices, political influence, and regulation failures.

This episode of Food Safety Five discusses new research on the use of cold plasma technologies for biofilm inactivation and reducing allergenic risk, deriving more accurate “sell by” dates based on microbial changes on meat, and ultra-processed food nutrition and purchasing realities.

A series of first-of-their-kind, large-scale epidemiological studies have suggested associations between food dyes—both “natural” and artificial—and preservatives, and an increased risk of chronic health conditions like cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

During the 49^th Meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL49), guidelines on risk-based precautionary allergen labeling, labeling for multipack foods, and emergency flexible labeling were recommended for adoption. CCFL also declined a proposal to initiate work related to ultra-processed foods.