Happy Friday, and welcome to Food Fix. It was such a treat to see a bunch of you at our live taping of Forked last week. We ended up having a panel of special guests to talk about MAHA and the big fight over preemption. The episode is now out — give it a listen!
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Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
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Scientists call for urgent crackdown on ultra-processed foods. Where’s MAHA?
Governments need to take action to reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods or face worsening health outcomes globally, leading scientists warned in The Lancet this week.
The series of papers, published in one of the top medical journals in the world, offers one of the sharpest rebukes yet of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
“The totality of the evidence supports the thesis that displacement of long-established dietary patterns by ultra-processed foods is a key driver of the escalating global burden of multiple diet-related chronic diseases,” the researchers write, noting that more than 100 prospective studies, meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials and mechanistic studies have found adverse health outcomes across nearly all organ systems. In other words, scientists have found that UPFs are contributing to poor health well beyond driving excess weight gain.
Show me the policy: The researchers call for major policy changes to reverse course here — a tall order considering UPFs make up more than half of calories consumed in many high income countries. They argue that targeting foods high in fats, sugars and salt is not enough, because the food industry will just minimally tweak their products. Instead, they urge governments to essentially wage war against UPFs in diets altogether and hold the food industry accountable.
The series recommends a suite of options, such as imposing taxes, banning junk food marketing to kids, restricting UPFs in school meals, and mandating stricter front-of-pack food labels.
“We call for including ingredients that are markers of UPFs (eg, colors, flavors, and sweeteners) in front-of-package labels, alongside excessive saturated fat, sugar, and salt, to prevent unhealthy ingredient substitutions, and enable more effective regulation,” said Barry Popkin, a professor at the University of North Carolina and an author of the series.
The researchers argue that shifting consumer choices is not enough and that regulatory action is also needed. (The Lancet series was supported with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, a non-profit led by Michael Bloomberg that funds a lot of work in this space.)
The view from Washington: Of course, this all begs the question: What exactly is the Trump administration and the “Make America Healthy Again” movement planning to do about UPFs now that Republicans control the House, Senate, White House and key federal agencies (including FDA, which has direct authority here)? As I’ve previously reported, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been clear he believes UPFs are driving diet-related diseases and essentially mass poisoning children (I heard him say as much earlier this week). So, what is the plan?
I asked HHS if the agency had a comment on The Lancet series and if it could share anything more about the policy agenda.
“HHS is committed to empowering Americans to steer away from ultra-processed foods and reclaim control of their health,” said Emily Hilliard, HHS press secretary, in an email. “These products are a major driver of the nation’s chronic disease epidemic, and replacing them with real, whole foods is one of the most effective ways to Make America Healthy Again.”
Hilliard added that FDA and USDA “have already begun gathering data to guide future recommendations, including a recent Request for Information to establish a uniform definition of ultra-processed foods.” (That comment period closed last month.)
“HHS will continue supporting rigorous research and evidence-based approaches to strengthen dietary guidance and promote healthier food environments nationwide,” she added.
Thought bubble: This sounds to me like a more individualistic approach, not a systemic one.
UPF scorecard: By my count, the Trump administration has done two things that substantively push back on UPFs: First, USDA is approving several states to restrict the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages and/or candy with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (sure, that’s not targeting UPFs broadly, but it’s in that general direction). Second, they’ve strong-armed many food companies into voluntarily ditching synthetic food dyes (it sure helps that West Virginia has a ban on the books as of Jan. 2028, but the administration’s pressure here is a real factor).
We are expecting the new dietary guidelines to recommend less consumption of UPFs (even though the government hasn’t yet officially defined them), but that has not come out yet. (Note: Secretary Kennedy also likes to cite GRAS reform as an accomplishment — aka reforming how food additives are regulated — as if that has already happened, but this has not happened so I am not including it here.)
Industry pushback: The food industry, it should be noted, is not taking this growing criticism lying down. Industry leaders are arguing that The Lancet goes further than the evidence supports.
“We share a goal of improving global health outcomes through diet quality and access. However, the policy and advocacy recommendations of this series go far beyond the available evidence,” said Rocco Renaldi, secretary general of the International Food & Beverage Alliance. “If adopted as proposed, these policy recommendations would risk limiting access to nutrient-dense processed foods and reducing the availability of safe, affordable, shelf-stable options globally.”
Hot seat: Amid an onslaught of media coverage on The Lancet series from the New York Times to CNN and BBC, ABC also has a primetime special out this week focused on the harms of UPFs. The heat is on.
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What I’m reading
Botulism bacteria found in infant formula, company confirms (New York Times). “ByHeart, the company linked to an outbreak of botulism from infant formula, said late Wednesday that a private lab had found the bacteria that causes the illness in samples of its product,” reports Christina Jewett. “ByHeart said in a statement that it sent its formula to an independent testing lab on Nov. 7, as soon that the Food and Drug Administration notified the company about the outbreak. The company has recalled all lots of its formula, and federal officials have warned people not to use any of ByHeart’s infant formula. But state food inspectors reporting to the F.D.A. found some cans of the formula on store shelves in recent days, the agency said. [ByHeart] has just a tiny share of the formula market, about 1 percent.”
School whole milk bill passes U.S. Senate (Lancaster Farming). “The U.S. Senate passed a bill Nov. 20 allowing whole milk and nutritionally equivalent alternatives to be served in schools. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said the bill will give students more nutritious milk options while supporting dairy farmers,” writes Philip Gruber. “At Marshall’s request, the bill was approved by unanimous consent. The procedure became possible after Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., lifted her hold on the bill. She and fellow Black lawmaker Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., had raised concerns about a related decades-old regulation that treats lactose intolerance as a disability. Black Americans are among the groups with a high prevalence of lactose intolerance. A 2010 law requires the milk options served in schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program to follow the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The guidelines have long recommended low-fat milk to limit saturated fat intake, though some recent research is more favorable to full-fat dairy. The latest guidelines are due this year.”
RFK Jr. ally Calley Means formally joins Trump administration (The Hill). “Calley Means, a top adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has formally joined the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),” writes Nathaniel Weixel. “An HHS spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the wellness entrepreneur is joining the department as a senior adviser supporting food and nutrition policy working directly with Kennedy. Means previously served as a special government employee, a temporary position limited to a 130-day term. He left that position last month. Means is one of the most vocal proponents of Kennedy’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) agenda. Much of the MAHA agenda is popular and could tap into the GOP’s populist movement, and Means’s permanent role in the administration situates him as a bridge between Kennedy and the broader Republican Party.”
Democratic lawmakers introduce bill to reverse SNAP cuts (WWNY). “A team of House and Senate Democrats are working to reverse recent cuts to food assistance programs, including those outlined in President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’” reports Caitrin Assaf. “The bill was introduced by a team of Democratic senators and representatives with the goal of reversing recent cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) they say would devastate American communities. The Trump-led ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ introduced new guidelines as to who’s eligible for SNAP and shifted the burden of benefits to states. Lawmakers say the mandates could affect not only SNAP beneficiaries, but their entire communities. According to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), approved cuts would eliminate around $187 billion in food assistance over the next decade and cause a nearly $25 billion direct hit to America’s farmers.”
Patient hospitalized after first human case of bird flu linked to rare strain of virus (USA Today). “A strain of bird flu never seen in humans has infected a Washington state resident and left the person hospitalized, state health authorities said,” Michael Loria reports. “According to health department officials, the person is the first to be infected with influenza A H5, an avian flu. The patient has underlying health conditions and keeps backyard poultry that were exposed to wild birds. The case out of Grays County, west of Seattle on the Pacific Ocean, is the latest in the spread of bird flu around the nation, which has infected more than 1,000 dairy cattle herds in 17 states since the virus was initially found in dairy cows in March 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
Inside RFK Jr.’s first nine months leading HHS (STAT). “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first nine months as health secretary have completely upended U.S. federal health agencies,” writes Alex Hogan. “Kennedy has overseen mass layoffs, cut funding to promising scientific research, and replaced key positions with handpicked allies since his tenure started last February. RFK Jr. is also a proud Kennedy — part of a legacy of powerful Democrats. In this week’s STATus Report, host Alex Hogan discusses the complexities of RFK Jr. with STAT Washington correspondent Chelsea Cirruzzo. They also discuss RFK Jr.’s management style, work habits, D.C. lifestyle, and more.”
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