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Ultraprocessed foods make up to 70% of the US food supply (2025)
- direwolf20 10mo agoUp to 70% usually means 2%
- monooso 10mo agoIn this case, it seems to be lower than the figure quoted in the report abstract[1] (emphasis mine). > Among 230,156 food and beverage products, the mean [Health Star Rating] was 2.7 (standard deviation (SD) 1.4) from a possible maximum rating of 5.0, and 71% of products were classified as ultra-processed. [1]: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/8/1704 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/8/1704
- uniqueuid 10mo agoThe dataset contains ~80% of food sold and inclusion in it is very probably skewed towards large volume. So the lower bound is something like 56% (if the 20% rest are not ultraprocessed)
- uniqueuid 10mo agoHere it actually means 70%, but the paper is in a paper from mdpi which have been under criticism for predatory (i.e. fraudulent, junk-science enabling) practices. From TFA: "We report results of a cross-sectional assessment of the 2018 US packaged food and beverage supply by nutritional composition and indicators of healthfulness and level of processing. Data were obtained through Label Insight’s Open Data database, which represents >80% of all food and beverage products sold in the US over the past three years. Healthfulness and the level of processing, measured by the Health Star Rating (HSR) system and the NOVA classification framework, respectively, were compared across product categories and leading manufacturers. Among 230,156 food and beverage products, the mean HSR was 2.7 (standard deviation (SD) 1.4) from a possible maximum rating of 5.0, and 71% of products were classified as ultra-processed. "
- hexbin010 10mo ago2% definitely sounds about right for the US...bahaha
- TacoCommander 10mo agoJust don't buy those foods. Buy fresh vegetables, tofu, and meat from the edges of the grocery store. Simple. Done.
- wppick 10mo agoGo to your grocery store and see if they have half and half or whipping cream with just milk and cream as ingredients. At lot of grocery stores I've been to don't have any cream it's a recipe with cream guar gum and a few other ingredients. They shouldn't be able to call that recipe the same name "cream". My point is even trying to just buy these ingredients is itself complicated
- massysett 10mo agoThis isn’t hard at all. Didn’t take me three minutes. It’s even a major brand available at a variety of US supermarkets. It’s not niche or “organic”. https://giantfood.com/product/land-o-lakes-half-half-cream-1-quart/128899 https://giantfood.com/product/land-o-lakes-half-half-cream-1...
- bri3k 10mo agoI don’t buy half and half cream very often. I did not know that for a basic product they were selling items that aren’t just milk and cream. Ignorance on my part? Sure, but there is over a hundred different things I buy. It would be doing a audit everytime I go shopping.
- zeech 10mo agoThis article equates ultraprocessed foods and hyperpalatable foods (foods designed to make people want to eat them more). While many hyperpalatable foods are classified as ultraprocessed, simply being hyperpalatable does not mean it's ultraprocessed. Worth noting that the Nova food classificationvsysten (which this article references) completely disregards the actual nutritional content of foods. For a good primer on a lot of the misconceptions around UPFs, check out [0]. [0] https://www.harvardmagazine.com/research/harvard-ultraprocessed-food-myth https://www.harvardmagazine.com/research/harvard-ultraproces...
- delichon 10mo agoFood is ultraprocessed to make it cheaper, more palatable, or both. So while the definitions are orthogonal the goals align.
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- zeech 10mo agoI agree that many hyperpalatable foods are ultraprocessed so that they can be made more cheaply, but I don't think that's reason enough to say that the, uh, process of processing foods is entirely aligned with the concept of hyperpalatability.
- 8bitsrule 10mo agoIt also be processed to remove ingredients that can be sold at a higher price when used in another way.
- margalabargala 10mo agoHeadline is massively misleading. The actual study cited by the article, measures this as 71% of food products offered for sale in the US, by count of unique items, are ultraprocessed. Not that 71% of food products sold by weight or volume or dollar amount are ultraprocessed. This is just observing that if you list all food products for sale in the US, "pear" appears on that list once but "Store Brand salty corn chips" appears 25 times.
- aix1 10mo agoFair point. Here is some data on the fraction of caloric intake: * During August 2021–August 2023, the mean percentage of total calories consumed from ultra-processed foods among those age 1 year and older was 55.0%. * Youth ages 1–18 years consumed a higher percentage of calories from ultra-processed foods (61.9%) than adults age 19 and older (53.0%). Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db536.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db536.htm The study is from 2023 and notes that there had been a decrease during the preceding decade.
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- ChrisArchitect 10mo ago(2025) OP More recently: Ultra-processed foods make up more than 60% of us kids' diets https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44823288 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44823288 How America got hooked on ultraprocessed foods https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45605921 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45605921 California passes law to ban ultra-processed foods from school lunches https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45525041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45525041
- vivzkestrel 10mo agowhy does the USA not have the concept of buying home made meals from other people? I have never heard of a lunch box service or people buying one
- Nasrudith 10mo agoWe have health codes and regulations to prevent commercialization of food production in potentially substandard conditions. It prevents both good and bad things.
- vivzkestrel 10mo agonow that is absolutely terrible isnt it, if a person wants to start a cloud kitchen even at home, they should be able to do so unless it causes a disturbance to neighbors. as long as regular inspections can be arranged, this should be a non issue for starters. i have a feeling the BIG FOOD industry has rigged this section of the law so that their authority on ultra processed food is not challenged
- TacoCommander 10mo agoPro Tip: You're going to need a floor drain in your kitchen as a first step.
- thefz 10mo ago> why does the USA not have the concept of buying home made meals from other people? capitalism->companies lobby->corrupt government->zero regulation->shitty food that costs less to make, will kill you and is addictive
- TacoCommander 10mo agoIt's assumed that they are a bad actor, and the food is prepared under unsanitary conditions.
- fuzzfactor 10mo agoIt's hard to get much more processed than sugar itself. Out of everything else, that should be one that's easy to remember. Pure white crystals often indicate the presence of a chemical in its most concentrated form. Among other dangers, are the hazard of overdosing more easily, intentionally or not.
- TacoCommander 10mo agoOne time in Hawaii I was looking at a "Sugar in the Raw" type sugar packet. The sugar was grown in Hawaii, shipped to California for packaging, and shipped back to Hawaii, and distributed in trucks to the restaurant.