For the first time, the official guidance from the United States government is to avoid highly processed food. We are not making a legal definition or attacking an industry – we are stating a public health truth that Americans already feel in their bodies and see in their families.
These foods include:
Packaged, prepared, ready-to-eat, or other foods that are salty or sweet, such as chips, cookies, and candy that have added sugars and salt.
Foods and beverages that include artificial flavors, petroleum-based dyes, artificial preservatives, and low-calorie non-nutritive sweeteners.
Sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, fruit drinks, and energy drinks
Diets dominated by these foods – engineered for shelf life, speed, and addictiveness rather than nourishment – are strongly linked to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, depression, heart disease, certain cancers, and shortened life expectancy. The consumption of these foods is contributing to trillions of dollars per year in healthcare costs.
There is no more science-based or urgent public health message than to limit highly processed foods and eat real food. Today, nearly 70% of a American child's diet is defined as ultra-processed – in other countries, this is below 20%.
Real food – in it's natural or minimally processed form, supports human health. Highly processed food, consumed at scale and over time, destroys it.
The government's message is simple: what we eat shapes how long and how well we live – and choosing real food is one of the most powerful health decisions a person, a family, and a nation can make.