More than a dozen states have enacted laws to protect consumers from harmful food chemicals and ultra-processed foods. Your favorite food brands may be tied up in efforts to erase them. A draft bill known as the “FRESH” and Affordable Foods Act, introduced last week by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), would take an unprecedented step in […]
For too long, the FDA has let food chemical companies decide which food chemicals are safe to eat. So it’s good news that states are leading the way when it comes to the safety of food chemicals. States with active legislation:Alaska A.B. 1264 would define ultra-processed foods and direct state scientists to determine a subset of “particularly harmful […]
If you’ve studied ingredient labels and been mystified by “natural flavor” and “artificial flavor,” you’re not alone. These vague terms suggest a big gap in quality, but the reality is more complex. Both can contain dozens of undisclosed chemicals, and they’re often nearly identical. Why flavor food? There are a few reasons flavor may be […]
Evidence keeps mounting about the health risks of common food chemicals. At the same time, Americans are waking up to the fact that the federal government not only doesn’t vet the chemicals used in our food, but they are also often the last to act when evidence of harm arises. In the face of federal […]
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kicked off the “Eat Real Food” campaign last month, promising a series of food and nutrition policy changes to “Make America Healthy Again.” So far, it has failed to act, instead providing a dog and pony show that distracts from policy decisions undermining public health at every turn. […]
Most baby food sold in U.S. grocery stores is ultra-processed, a new study finds, raising fresh concerns about what many infants and toddlers are eating during a critical window of development. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Nutrients, found that 71% of baby food products sold in grocery stores are classified as ultra-processed foods, or UPF. Researchers […]
Makers of ultraprocessed food have struggled all year to find a message to counter Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, that they are poisoning the American people. They think they’ve hit on one: Kennedy’s plans are going to make already enormous grocery bills even bigger. Food manufacturers are making that case in an attempt to […]
Four new research papers are calling attention to the rising health risks of ultra-processed foods, or UPF. Together they paint a picture of a food landscape flooded with UPF, flagging an urgent need for a more powerful policy response. Three of the papers were published as a series in the Lancet, a leading international medical journal, by […]
In the fall of 1950, a Halloween nightmare unfolded. Something in candy was making kids sick with severe diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The event was a wake-up call for the Food and Drug Administration, launching it on the path of more oversight of food chemicals. Today, 75 years later, food chemicals and dyes are back in […]
California made history Wednesday by enacting the first law in the United States to define and ultimately ban unhealthy ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, from what’s projected to be over 1 billion meals served to California schoolchildren in the 2025-26 school year. By signing the “Real Food, Healthy Kids Act” into law, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken […]