
Furious NYC moms rail against toxins in kid foods
As dozens of doctors worked to pinpoint the cause, they put the girl on a strict diet low in highly processed foods and free of gluten, dairy, corn, soy and histamines.
For Ferrara, 39, figuring out what her daughter could safely eat was like trying to understand a foreign language.
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8 The Ferrara family strives to follow a diet packed with clean, whole foods.
Clarissa Byrne
'Sometimes I feel like I can't work because I literally need to research food,' Ferrara, a speech and language pathologist from Brooklyn, told The Post.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) make up nearly 70% of calories in American kids' diets — and a jaw-dropping new White House report warns they may be fueling the nationwide rise in childhood chronic diseases.
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The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission's report marks the Trump administration's first major push to confront what it calls a 'crisis' affecting more than 40% of young people across the country.
'We will follow the truth wherever it leads, uphold rigorous science, and drive bold policies that put the health, development and future of every child first,' HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said Thursday.
Two New York moms raising children with chronic health issues told The Post that it can be an uphill battle to keep their kids' diets clean in a country where UPFs dominate supermarket shelves.
UPFs explained
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While there's no single, universally accepted definition, UPFs are generally packaged, ready-to-eat products that undergo extensive industrial processing to boost their flavor, texture and shelf life.
They're often loaded with added sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and refined grains — and packed with preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, emulsifiers and stabilizers not commonly used in home cooking.
8 Most Americans don't go a day without eating ultra-processed foods.
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UPFs usually contain little to no fruits, vegetables or whole grains and are typically low in fiber and other essential nutrients.
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Researchers estimate that about 70% of the 300,000-plus branded food products in grocery stores fall into this category.
Food fight
Two years into the strict diet, Ferrara is still navigating the minefield — and slip-ups come with serious consequences.
'[Food] really, really affects her and can trigger a flare-up where she's so uncomfortable gut-wise and brain-wise that she can't go to school,' said Ferrara, who co-owns Social City, which provides social support services for children.
One recent mistake? The gluten-free, dairy-free pancakes her daughter eats every morning. Turns out they contain a corn-derived additive called maltodextrin — something Ferrara only discovered after calling the manufacturer.
'It was one of the ingredients that my eyes just skipped over, because I don't know what that is,' she said. 'Unknowingly, every morning I was giving her these gluten-free, dairy-free pancakes that actually have something that is highly inflammatory and ultra-processed.'
8 Food labels are frequently cited as a source of confusion for consumers.
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The MAHA report warns that more than 2,500 food additives can be pumped into UPFs — all to enhance taste and texture and stretch shelf life.
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Some additives have been linked to serious health concerns, including behavioral disorders, metabolic issues and even cancer.
Take Red 40, for example. This food dye is found in popular snacks like Skittles and Doritos, as well as drinks like Pepsi. It has been tied to increased hyperactivity and irritability in children, especially if they have ADHD, and can trigger allergic reactions in others.
Meanwhile, research shows titanium dioxide, found in everything from candies to sauces, may damage cells and even DNA.
Then there are artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose and saccharin, which some studies suggest can disrupt the gut microbiome — a key player in metabolism, weight control and blood sugar regulation.
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8 Red dye 40 is also known as Allura Red AC.
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Ferrara's younger daughter, 4, doesn't have food sensitivities — but keeping her diet clean is still a challenge. At school, playdates and other places outside the home, junk food is nearly impossible to avoid.
'She doesn't get directly affected immediately after she eats, but I know it's doing harm to her over the long term,' Ferrara said. 'Just because it doesn't outrightly show on every single person doesn't mean it's not doing the same damage internally.'
According to the White House report, ultra-processed grains — found in cakes, cookies, breads and snack foods — dominate children's diets. These products are stripped of their bran and germ, removing essential fiber, vitamins and minerals.
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'The stripping of these components can lead to blood sugar spikes, increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes,' the report states.
The sugar situation is just as grim. Ultra-processed sugars can be found in 75% of packaged foods. The average American consumes 17 teaspoons of added sugar a day — amounting to a whopping 60 pounds a year.
8 Many American children exceed the recommended daily limits for added sugar.
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This sugar overload — especially from high-fructose corn syrup and other additives — may be playing a 'significant role' in the nation's rise of childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to the report.
But it's not just the ingredients — it's what industrial processing does to them.
The MAHA report warns that processing alters fiber content, caloric density and digestibility in ways that can hijack hunger hormones, short-circuit satiety signals and damage the gut microbiome.
'It shouldn't be so hard to protect your family,' Ferrara said. 'They need to be more transparent with what's in the food, but also how it's processed.'
Toxic situation
Astoria mom Carissa Serralta has always strived to feed her kids a healthy diet — but it wasn't until one of her newborn twin daughters was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, MCAD deficiency, that she saw just how flooded grocery stores are with ultra-processed junk.
The condition prevents her now 2-year-old, Mila, from properly metabolizing fats from seed oils like palm, coconut and avocado.
8 Serralta's daughter's condition has changed the whole family's eating habits.
Clarissa Serralta
'Eighty to 90% of the brands you see on the shelf she can't have,' Serralta told The Post. 'It could be anywhere from pasta to tortillas to Cheez-Its.'
That became a nightmare when she couldn't produce enough breast milk — and realized nearly all baby formulas on the market are loaded with seed oils.
'They say breast is best, but if you don't have milk for your baby and you have no choice but to give them formula, and the formula has bad ingredients, what do you do?' she mused. 'Your baby has to be fed.'
8 Seed oils are common in packaged and processed foods.
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Doctors told Serralta to give Mila tiny doses of seed oils to build tolerance for formula — but that led to months of relentless diarrhea.
The MAHA report notes that seed oils have flooded the US food supply, overtaking animal-based fats like butter and lard in American diets over the past century.
Finding safe foods has become 'a full-time job' for Serralta. Many of the items her daughter can eat aren't available locally, forcing her to shop online or cook everything from scratch.
If Mila accidentally eats seed oil, it means an upset stomach, which Serralta said is painful but manageable. She is thankful it's not something more severe like a peanut or gluten allergy.
8 Mila Walpole can't eat many store-bought foods due to her seed oil intolerance.
Clarissa Serralta
The White House report highlights that childhood food allergies have soared 88% since 1997, while celiac disease in kids has jumped fivefold since the '80s.
The diagnosis didn't just change what Mila eats — it transformed the rest of the family's eating habits. Serralta shudders at the thought of her older son previously eating ultra-processed snacks.
'It's almost a scary thought, because I was so unaware of this before I had the twins,' she said.
And while she's no fan of the current administration, Serralta said she welcomes any effort to expand access to healthier foods.
'Less-processed foods have to be made available to all kids — it shouldn't just be online where people with lower incomes can't access it,' she said.
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The Hill
18 minutes ago
- The Hill
Coke with cane sugar may not be that big of a MAHA victory
Coca-Cola is going to offer a cane sugar version of its signature beverage, rather than one sweetened with corn syrup. Major segments of the food industry, including General Mills and Heinz, have pledged to remove certain colored dyes from their products. The fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake is making french fries in beef tallow rather than vegetable oil. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed them all as significant victories for his 'make America healthy again' (MAHA) movement as part of its quest to reform the U.S. food supply. 'Froot Loops is finally following its nose — toward common sense,' Kennedy said on social platform X after cereal-maker WK Kellogg Co. agreed to remove synthetic dyes from its cereal by 2027. 'I urge more companies to step up and join the movement to Make America Healthy Again.' But nutrition and food policy experts say the moves are a far cry from actually making America healthier. While they praised the administration and MAHA for drawing attention to what they said is a broken food system, the victories touted thus far have been largely symbolic and rely on the goodwill of an industry that is eager to appear helpful to avoid strict government regulation. 'I think if we're really curious about improving public health, some of the small health initiatives, like … replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar, are really not where the administration should be channeling their efforts and leveraging the power that they do have,' said Priya Fielding-Singh, director of policy and programs at the George Washington University Global Food Institute. 'I think they should be focusing their efforts on initiatives that actually address the root of the problem, which is essentially a food system that promotes excess sugar, salt and fat,' Fielding-Singh said. Health officials and GOP lawmakers have taken to conservative media in recent weeks to tout the commitments from food and beverage companies to remove synthetic dyes. According to the HHS, nearly 35 percent of the industry has made such a commitment. But there's been no force behind the companies' actions, which experts said is an issue. 'Simply switching from synthetic to natural colors will not make these products less likely to cause obesity,' said Jerold Mande, a former senior official during three administrations at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Agriculture and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, said Kennedy could make a major statement by banning all colors and dyes. It wouldn't directly make Americans healthy, but it would go a long way toward making ultra-processed food look less appealing. 'All this voluntary stuff only goes so far. It really does minimal impact,' Popkin said. 'Unless he goes to the FDA and has the FDA change a regulation … there's nothing.' Kennedy has also singled out the use of high-fructose corn syrup as a major contributor to diabetes and obesity. He has previously called it 'poison,' an epithet he repeated in late April when talking about sugar. When Steak 'n Shake said earlier this month it was going to sell Coca-Cola with real cane sugar, Kennedy praised the move. 'MAHA is winning,' Kennedy posted on X. But experts said there's no substantial difference in the benefits of using cane sugar as a substitute for high-fructose corn syrup. 'At the end of the day, a Coke is still a can of Coke. It's not a fruit or a vegetable, right? And so if you're not shifting consumption away from these higher calorie, lower nutrient processed foods, toward nutrient dense, health promoting foods, then you're not actually going to be shifting the health of Americans in the right direction,' Fielding-Singh said. But if Kennedy thinks sugar is poison, 'they're both sugar and would both be poison, in his words,' said Mande, who is now CEO of Nourish Science. Health officials argue industry cooperation is key to the MAHA agenda. 'Working with industry is the best place to start. And we believe in industry to do the right thing when called upon,' Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz wrote in a joint op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. 'Our agencies are in a strong position to show Americans which companies are doing the right thing when it comes to popular reforms. By the time we're done, we will have built new relationships and be better positioned to hold them accountable,' Makary and Oz wrote. Yet there is plenty the agency can, and should do, that industry has pushed back against. Aviva Musicus, science director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, said MAHA is wasting its political capital. 'It's striking that we haven't seen the administration use policy to improve the food system. It's solely relying on voluntary industry commitments that we've seen repeatedly fail in the past,' Musicus said. 'In pushing the food industry to change, Trump and RFK Jr. have a chance to live up to their promises to fight chronic disease. Coca-Cola is at the table, but they're wasting the opportunity to actually improve health. The administration should focus on less sugar, not different sugar,' Musicus added. Popkin said he would like to see warning labels on ultra-processed foods high in sodium, added sugar and saturated fat. Kennedy 'hasn't tackled ultra-processed food yet. That'll be where he could make an impact on health in the U.S. and all the non-communicable diseases, including obesity. But he hasn't gone there yet,' Popkin said. The coming months will reveal more on the MAHA movement's plans to change how Americans eat. New dietary guidelines will be released 'in the next several months,' Kennedy said recently. In addition, a second MAHA report focused on policy recommendations is expected in August. 'We have to be considering that there could be real potential down the road,' Popkin said. 'But [there's been] nothing yet. That document will tell us if there ever be.'

Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Pepsi copies Coca-Cola to win back health-conscious consumers
Many Americans may not realize the importance of the gut microbiome, or the ecosystem of microbes that live in our intestines, and its impact on overall health. A 2023 Ipsos poll also revealed that many Americans have accepted to live with their digestive problems, with one in five saying they tried many things to resolve the issue, but haven't succeeded. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter About 18% of Americans confirm they have been diagnosed with hemorrhoids, and 15% say they have been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). How is this possible? Food plays a significant role in our gut and overall health. However, it is not the only culprit for various illnesses, because poor nutrition is often associated with other less healthy behaviors. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are leading sources of added sugars in the American diet, and frequent consumption is associated with weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, kidney diseases, obesity, gout, a type of arthritis and more. However, more frequent consumers of sugary drinks tend to be those who don't exercise regularly, eat fast food often, smoke, don't sleep enough, and do not consume enough fruit, reports the CDC. Over the last couple of years, healthier soda alternatives have grown in popularity, due to the newer generations' focus on healthier lifestyles and mindful eating. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently started a major crackdown on various ingredients commonly found in food and beverages, with one of the goals being to eliminate synthetic dyes in food and drinks. Related: Scientists find massive anti-aging potential in magic mushrooms Kennedy Jr. also stressed that sodas are one of the biggest contributors to the poor health of many Americans. Under the White House's "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, pressure is mounting on soda giants to adapt their formulas. Just recently, it was announced that Coca-Cola might make a big change to its sodas- switching from high-fructose corn syrup to cane sugar. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola launched its own prebiotic soda under its juice brand Simply, and now its biggest rival, PepsiCo (PEP) , is making a similar move. More Retail: Target delights shoppers with savings event, 30% discountsUS government wants to make healthier eggs illegalPepsi issues stern message to employees after mass closures On July 21, the soda giant announced the launch of its Pepsi Prebiotic Cola with: 5 grams of cane sugar; Only 30 calories (a standard Pepsi serving contains about 150 calories);No artificial sweeteners; 3 grams of prebiotic fiber. Pepsi is launching prebiotic cola in two traditional flavors: Original Cola and Cherry Vanilla. Available in 12 oz. single cans for trial and 8-packs of 12 oz. cans, the new sodas will be available online this fall and at stores in early 2026. Pepsi Prebiotic Cola's launch comes a few months after the beverage titan announced the purchase of prebiotic soda brand Poppi for nearly $2 billion. Pepsi's move into a healthier beverages market was a way to win back customers. After all, according to a study by Harvard researchers, the number of young people who consumed at least one daily sugar-sweetened drink dropped to 61% from 80% between 2003 and 2016. Related: Target delights shoppers with savings event, 30% discounts Prebiotics are non-digestible, fermentable food ingredients that modify the composition or activity of gastrointestinal bacteria to benefit the host, according to the National Library of Medicine. Foods like cereals, breads, and snack foods have added prebiotics if you see on the food label some of the following terms: inulin, wheat dextrin, acacia gum, psyllium, polydextrose, GOS (galactooligosaccharides), FOS (fructooligosaccharides), and TOS (transgalactooligosaccharides). While prebiotic sodas can support your gut health, too much of it can cause gas, bloating, or diarrhea. Experts advise people who have gastrointestinal problems such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis to avoid them. Samantha Nazareth, MD, board-certified gastroenterologist, told Woman's Health that prebiotic soda shouldn't replace plant-based foods like apples, garlic, artichokes, asparagus, and oats, which naturally contain gut-friendly fiber. The outlet consulted with experts to determine what health-conscious consumers should look for in prebiotic soda for the most benefits. They advised the following: Three grams of fiber per serving from ingredients like chicory root, inulin, and acacia fiberNo more than 10 grams of sugar Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.


Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Millions Across 11 States Told To Stay out of Sun, Limit Activity
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Millions of Americans across almost a dozen states were instructed to stay out of the sun and limit outdoor activities, as the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a sweeping series of extreme heat warnings and advisories amid dangerous temperatures. Dozens of cities in 11 states throughout the South, Midwest, and Southwest face dangerous heat, prompting health alerts and safety guidance for vulnerable communities. Why It Matters The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that extreme heat is the deadliest weather phenomenon in the United States, causing more than 700 deaths annually. Vulnerable populations, including children, seniors, and people with chronic health conditions, face elevated risks of heat-related illness such as heat stroke and exhaustion. Rising temperatures also amplify ground-level ozone pollution, compounding risks for those with asthma or heart complaints. People drink water as they walk along the National Mall near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2025, as a heat dome sits over the region leading to extremely high temperatures. People drink water as they walk along the National Mall near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on July 25, 2025, as a heat dome sits over the region leading to extremely high temperatures. Getty Images What To Know According to the NWS Extreme Heat Warning map and recent reports, extreme heat warnings are in effect for 11 states—affecting hundreds of cities and millions of residents. The hardest-hit areas were parts of Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, and most of South Dakota. These regions are forecast to experience heat index values at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. In their statements on the heat warning, the NWS advised: "Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors." Officials reiterated not to leave children or pets unattended in vehicles, as car interiors can reach deadly temperatures within minutes. "For the Heat Advisory, warm and muggy conditions will continue early this morning. For the Extreme Heat Warning, dangerously hot conditions with heat index values 111 to 115 expected," the NWS said. Simultaneously, less severe heat advisories stretched across the South, Midwest, and Northeast—including Georgia and southeast South Carolina, where forecast heat index values routinely top 100 F. Cities across affected regions have opened cooling centers for residents without air conditioning, with officials encouraging people to stay indoors and avoid outdoor activities during peak heat hours. The exact temperature thresholds that trigger heat advisories vary geographically, but all current warnings indicate conditions that push the human body beyond normal heat tolerance limits. What People Are Saying The NWS in Phoenix, Arizona, said in a statement on Sunday: "Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay in the shade, and check up on relatives and neighbors. "Do not leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles. Car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes. "Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke." What Happens Next At the time of publication, the latest extreme heat warnings remain in effect until at least 9 p.m. CDT Thursday, with the NWS advising residents to stay informed as conditions may shift.