Overview
- The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released Jan. 7, explicitly advise limiting ultraprocessed foods for the first time.
- The FDA and USDA say they are developing a federal definition of ultraprocessed foods, as experts warn that unclear criteria could invite industry workarounds.
- A Nature Medicine commentary proposes defining permissible non‑ultraprocessed ingredients and treating everything else as ultraprocessed to simplify enforcement.
- New Clinical Nutrition research in older adults found that cutting ultraprocessed foods to under 15% of calories led to weight loss and improvements in insulin sensitivity, cholesterol, inflammation and appetite hormones.
- A UK survey reports 66% worry about health harms from ultraprocessed foods, 39% support a ban and 77% want warning labels, as the country enforces a pre‑9 p.m. TV and all‑day online junk‑ad ban.