A new way of identifying ultra-processed food can clarify food choices

There are many reasons to criticize Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic health policies, but he might get credit for one thing: He has spawned a real movement away from ultra-processed foods, which are linked to multiple chronic diseases. Driven in part by his advocacy, state legislatures from California to Texas are moving to curb chemical-laden products in schools.

Here’s the problem: There’s never been an agreed-upon definition for what counts as ultra-processed. One group of researchers, however, might just have a solution.

Christina A. Roberto, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Food and Nutrition Policy, explained that policymakers tend to define ultra-processed food by focusing on the specific chemicals each food contains. That might seem reasonable enough: Identify a list of dyes, preservatives and other additives, and label any product containing them as ultra-processed.

But companies can easily find work-arounds to this approach, Roberto told me. “There’s this very predictable industry response: Industry will constantly innovate and evolve and just make ingredients that aren’t on the list,” Roberto said.