What a new study found on ultra-processed foods in US adults’ diets

Though these trends have been noticed earlier, the study aimed to determine whether UPFs are primarily consumed At Home (AH) or Away From Home (AFH), “to inform policies and messages to improve dietary quality.” It found that UPFs comprised more than 50% of both the total AH energy intake and the total AFH energy intake.

Published in The Journal of Nutrition earlier this month, the study (“Trends in Adults’ Intake of Un-processed/Minimally Processed, and Ultra-processed foods at Home and Away from Home in the United States from 2003–2018”) was led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

It examined data from the 2003–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a national annual survey of more than 34,000 adults. On two separate days, participants were asked about the foods they ate in the last 24 hours.

What are ultra-processed foods and the health concerns around them?

Using an existing framework for grouping foods by the level of processing, foods were assigned to one of four categories: unprocessed or minimally processed, processed culinary ingredients, processed, and ultra-processed. The last category contains foods with heavy use of artificial sweeteners, food colouring, and emulsifiers. Increased consumption of processed foods, like french fries and cookies, has been linked to heart diseases, weight gain and other health issues.

Researchers found that overall, UPFs comprised more than half of all calories consumed at home, rising from 51% in 2003 to 54% in 2018. They said these findings “highlight the ubiquity and increasing proportion of UPFs in United States adults’ diets regardless of whether foods are consumed AH or AFH”.

Julia Wolfson, the study’s lead author, said, “We need strategies to help people choose less processed foods” for both AH and AFH consumption. “Strong nutrition labels warning of high ultra-processed food content may be warranted,” she added.