Latest news with #ultraProcessedFoods
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Furious NYC moms rail against toxins in kid foods: ‘Shouldn't be so hard to protect your family'
Tara Ferrara's 7-year-old daughter began suffering from a baffling mix of symptoms four years ago — nausea, stomach pain and sudden, intense panic that struck without warning. 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. '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. 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. 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. UPFs usually contain little to no fruits, vegetables or whole grains and are typically low in fiber and other essential nutrients. Researchers estimate that about 70% of the 300,000-plus branded food products in grocery stores fall into this category. 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.' 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. 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. 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. '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. 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.' 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. '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.' 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. 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.
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Seed Oils, UPFs, And Carni-Bros: Is RFK Making America Healthy Again?
RFK Jr is not just bringing back infectious diseases like measles. Our top health official is working hard to back diet-related diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart attacks. During his first three months in office, RFK, Jr. has made three big pronouncements about what Americans should eat. The first is important but for the wrong reasons. The second builds on the fallacies of the first. And the third goes against 60 plus years of scientific evidence. RFK is not wrong if he is referring to ultra-processed foods (or UPFs). A recent study found that those who ate more UPFs were more likely to show early symptoms of Parkinson's disease and a review study linked UPFs to higher risk of dying from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and mental health outcomes including anxiety and sleeping difficulties. UPFs are made from multiple ingredients including additives like colorants, flavor enhancers, and preservatives. They contain high amounts of sugars, salt, and fats, which makes them hyper-palatable, or simply tasty. And they are cheap, readily available (witness the local gas station convenience store), and handy to eat. Unfortunately for the consumer, a review of studies with a combined population of over 1 million, found that for each 10% increase in UPF consumption, your risk of mortality increases by 10%. Why are UPFs unhealthy? Many people eschew the long list of 'chemicals' on the ingredient labels of everything from Wheaties to Fritos. One type of ingredient--food dyes--can have negative health effects and are associated with hyperactivity in children. In fact, MAHA hopes to ban food dyes in UPFs like soft drinks and Fruit Loops. Yet I haven't heard MAHA alerting us to the high levels of salt, sugar, and saturated fat in UPFs… all things that have been shown over and over to contribute to chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. Dr Kevin Hall, who worked as a nutrition researcher at NIH for 21 years, found that people on an ultra-processed diet consumed about 500 more calories per day, which could explain why UPFs are associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity. But what explains why UPF consumers gobble up more calories? Dr Hall thinks energy density might be the culprit. Simply put, a chocolate chip cookie packs a lot more calories into every bite than a banana. So eating that ultra processed chocolate chip cookie means eating more calories per bite compared to eating fruit and other less processed foods. Not to mention that the sugar, salt and fat taste good… making me want to eat 4 or 5 chocolate chip cookies instead of one banana. The preliminary results of Dr Hall's recent study, which he posted on X, show that the high energy density and the irresistible taste of salt, sugar, and fat explain why people on high UPF diets eat more calories. But don't expect to see the final results of this important study published anytime soon. Turns out Dr Hall took early retirement at 54 yrs old from his research position at NIH. Why? Because the MAHA administration forced him to withdraw his name from a paper on UPFs that mentioned 'health equity'--or the difficulties some groups have accessing healthy food. The administration also took away the money Dr Hall needed to continue his UPF research, censored his media access, and even incorrectly edited his response to a NY Times inquiry. Just as we were on the brink of understanding why UPFs are making us sick, one of the world's leading UPF scientists is out. Hard to see how lack of scientific information is Making Americans Healthy Again. While dining on fries and a double cheeseburger at Steak N Shake with Fox News's Sean Hannity, Kennedy touted French fries cooked in beef tallow. To be sure, consuming a lot of seed oils raises health concerns, including that they contain few nutrients, are often highly processed, and some, like soybean oil, might contain unhealthy amounts of omega 6 acids. But, are seed oils worse than saturated animal fats? Seed oils, unlike animal fats, are mostly unsaturated. And in a 2025 study, participants with the highest intake of butter, which similar to beef tallow is largely saturated animal fat, had a 15% higher total mortality whereas those with the highest intake of total plant-based oil (olive, soybean and canola) were 16% less likely to die. About ⅓ of the deaths were due to cancer, about a third to cardiovascular disease, and a third other causes. The authors conclude: In short, if you have to choose between seed oils and animal fat, you are probably better off with seed oils, or even better, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). But, you should avoid consuming too much of any sort of oil or fat, which brings us to the third RFK Jr pronouncement. At a public event to promote MAHA in West Virginia, RFK Jr body shamed Governor Patrick Morrisey for his weight. MAHA seems to be at the forefront of the next culture war: dump plant-based foods and become a 'carni-bro.' Yet a comprehensive review of studies on foods and obesity concluded: How do UPFs compare to red meat? The only study I found comparing the two found people eating UPFs had an approximately 14% greater chance of dying whereas those who ate red meat had an approximately 8% chance of death over the same time period. (Those eating other types of meats like chicken and pork and fish did not have a greater chance of dying.) But this study was conducted with Seventh Day Adventists, whose meat consumption was way lower than the average American (while their UPF consumption was fairly typical of the US). People in West Virginia, whose governor is in fact rotund, are by far and away the biggest consumer of hotdogs in the US, at 481 hot dogs per person per year. In a recent UK study with a more typical population, every added 70 g of red meat and processed meat (like ham, hotdogs, bacon, and deli meats) per day was associated with a 15% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 30% higher risk of diabetes. Because red and processed meat consumption is also associated with higher rates of cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund recommends limiting red meat to no more than three portions per week and avoiding processed meat altogether. According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, accounting for one in five deaths, or one death every 33 seconds. Heart disease cost the US about $252.2 billion from 2019 to 2020. And if you look at a map of where heart disease is more common, it looks uncannily like a map of MAHA supporters (including in West Virginia). . The first items in a list of CDC recommendations for preventing heart disease are all about food: Choose healthy meals and snacks high in fiber and limit saturated and trans fats, salt, and sugar. This sounds like a recipe for avoiding UPFs. But it could also be a recipe for substituting whole grains and fruit and vegetables for red and processed meats, which punch the double whammy of being meat and UPFs. Let's celebrate Kennedy's move away from UPFs, an important step toward improving Americans' health. But why does our top health official publicly tout beef tallow, French fries, and double cheeseburgers, when we know that Americans' consumption of saturated fat and meat lead to obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease? Or has he weighed in on ultra-processed meats, like Slim Jim's, which with sales at $3 billion last year is America's fastest growing snack? It's hard to understand what is going on in RFK's brain. He gloms on to a limited number of studies suggesting health risks of eating seed oils, while ignoring saturated fats and even encouraging Americans to eat fast foods. He wants to rout out corruption in the food and pharmaceutical industry, yet uses his position to sell Make America Tallow Again hats and T-shirts. He says he believes climate change poses an existential threat, yet on his second day in office eliminated funding for research on heat waves, indoor mold after flooding, and other NIH climate change and health programs. And in his big May report on children's health, he ignores the largest causes of death for those under 19--gun violence and accidents. Raise your hand if you want Secretary Kennedy to conduct a public truth-telling once a month.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Jimmy Kimmel Predicts Exactly Why And When Trump Will Dump RFK Jr.
Jimmy Kimmel joked Thursday about why Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s tenure as Health and Human Services secretary may be short-lived. Kimmel mockingly introduced Kennedy, who has pushed debunked conspiracy theories about vaccines, as the 'Secretary of Health and Human Sacrifice' before turning to a new report from his department that warns, among other things, about the health risks of ultra-processed foods. The report 'on chronic disease warns about the toxins found in ultra-processed foods like fried chicken, fast food burgers and fries, pepperoni pizza, soft drinks, ice cream bars, and so on,' Kimmel said, as a montage of images showing Trump consuming each of those items appeared on the screen. 'Trump sat right next to him listening to all of this' during a White House briefing, Kimmel noted. 'Listen, Trump's favorite food is toxins. His blood type is honey mustard,' he cracked. 'I'm glad RFK is working on this. But none of it is going to....' Then he predicted: 'When Trump finally figures out he's trying to take away his Doritos, mark my words — Bobby is out and Diddy is in.' Watch Kimmel's full monologue here: 'Beyond Disgraceful': Kristi Noem's Gloat Over Dismissed Migrants Lawsuit Sparks Outrage Jeanine Pirro Boils Over About 1 Part Of New Trump-Appointed Job Here's What To Expect At Army's 250th Anniversary Parade On Trump's Birthday Kim Jong Un Flips Out After North Korea's New Warship Launch Goes Spectacularly Awry
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
How do ultra-processed foods affect health? Blood, urine markers may help show the impacts
Molecules in blood and urine may reveal how much energy a person consumes from ultra-processed foods, a key step to understanding the impact of the products that make up nearly 60 per cent of the American diet, a new study finds. It is the first time that scientists have identified biological markers that can indicate higher or lower intake of the foods, which are linked to a host of health problems, said Erikka Loftfield, a National Cancer Institute researcher who led the study published earlier this week in the journal PLOS Medicine. 'It can potentially give us some clues as to what the underlying biology might be between an ultra-processed food association and a health outcome,' Loftfield said. Ultra-processed foods – such as instant noodles, sugary cereals, carbonated soft drinks, potato and tortilla chips and frozen pizzas – are products created through industrial processes with ingredients such as additives, colours and preservatives not found in home kitchens. They are ubiquitous in the United States and elsewhere, but studying their health impacts is hard because it is difficult to accurately track what people eat. Potato and tortilla chips, an ultra-processed food, are displayed in a pharmacy in New York. Photo: AP Typical nutrition studies rely on recall: asking people what they ate during a certain period. But such reports are notoriously unreliable because people do not remember everything they ate, or they record it inaccurately.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Zoe health food ad BANNED for 'misleading' UPF-free claim
An advert featuring Steven Bartlett has been banned for misleading customers that its supplement doesn't contain any ultra-processed ingredients. Nutrition brand Zoe, co-founded by health guru Professor Tim Spector, was told the ad mustn't appear again by watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ad was for Zoe's Daily 30+ 'plant-based wholefood supplement' a powder designed to sprinkled on other food to boost its nutritional content. A testimonial from Bartlett, included in the Facebook ad, read: 'This is a supplement revolution. No ultra-processed pills, no shakes, just real food.' But ASA upheld a complaint from an unnamed professor in nutrition and food science who claimed this was misleading as the product contained ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are those that have undergone significant modification from their natural state and include those with added colourings, sweeteners and preservatives that extend shelf life. ASA found two of the 32 ingredients in Zoe's supplement chicory root inulin, a type of fibre, and nutritional yeast had undergone 'more than a minimal level of processing'. In its ruling ASA said Bartlett's statement 'implied the product did not contain any ingredients that consumers would interpret as ultra-processed when that was not the case, and was therefore likely to mislead.' Zoe, which the former Dragon's Den star is an investor of, strongly refuted ASA's decision. The company said the advert didn't claim its supplement was free of UPFs but rather it was not 'was not an ultra-processed pill, unlike other supplements'. However, ASA ruled in favour of the complaint: 'The ad must not appear in the form complained of.' ASA added that Zoe must not 'make claims that their products did not contain UPFs ingredients if consumers were likely to interpret the ingredients to be ultra-processed'. Zoe's Daily 30+ is a combination of 32 different foods including vegetables, fruits, seeds and mushrooms, that was to be put directly on to other food to increase fibre intake. One of these is chicory inulin which is extracted from the roots using solvents like ethanol and is then purified and dried. While chicory root itself is a whole food, extracted inulin is a processed ingredient often used in supplements. Nutritional yeast flakes are commonly used as a vegan cheese supplement and are a source of source of B vitamins and protein, which can boost the immune system. The supplement is not naturally occurring and is manufactured from a strain of yeast, that is heated as part of its manufacturing process and then dried and broken down into flakes making it a processed food. ASA said customers would likely identify both ingredients as UPFs. 'While some of those processes were relatively simple in isolation, we considered the number of stages used in processing went beyond what consumers would interpret as minimal and we considered they would likely understand chicory root inulin as UPFs,' it said. Professor Spector said: 'We categorically reject the idea that this advert is misleading, or that Daily30+ – or any of its ingredients – could be classed as ultra-processed. The ad clearly states that Daily30+ doesn't contain ultra-processed pills or shakes. 'That's because it doesn't. It is made entirely from whole food ingredients, and is designed to be added to meals – not taken as a pill or a shake. The claim is factually accurate and irrefutable.' He added: 'To go after a product that is designed to improve health whilst doing very little about the harmful marketing and advertising of unhealthy junk food to children and vulnerable individuals is nothing short of disgraceful.' A spokesman for Bartlett said: 'For the avoidance of any doubt, this ruling is not against Steven Bartlett whatsoever. The advert was not posted by Steven, nor did it appear on any of his channels. It was posted by Zoe Ltd on their own channel.'
