(The Center Square) – A leading medical group plans to do more to educate the public about the risks of ultraprocessed foods.
The American Medical Association, which represents physicians across the country, adopted a new policy to promote public awareness and education about ultraprocessed foods, which it says are made through industrially modified ingredients and are typically high in added sugar and salt, unhealthy fats, and low in fiber, protein, and other nutrients. Those foods have been linked with significant health risks when consumed regularly, including risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia.
The policy encourages integration of nutrition education into all levels of medical education to help physicians counsel patients on reducing unhealthful ultraprocessed food consumption.
“More and more people are regularly consuming ultraprocessed foods because they are inexpensive, readily available, and manufactured to taste good. Many people don’t know that these foods are loaded with sugar, salt and other unnatural ingredients that enhance taste but offer little to no nutritional value and can be detrimental to their health,” AMA Board Member Dr. Lynn Jeffers said.
Jeffers said the AMA should make sure “the public is aware of the health risks associated with ultraprocessed foods” and make sure they know about healthier food options.
The AMA said the policy supports federal, state, and local policies “that promote and incentivize the production and distribution of healthier, affordable, minimally-processed and unprocessed foods.”
It further supports increased funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to research the health effects of ultraprocessed foods and strategies to mitigate their risks.
The new AMA policy, adopted during the group’s annual meeting, comes as federal and state officials across the country look for ways to keep Americans healthy. Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for changes to nutrition guidelines, such as scrutinizing food additives, providing healthy food options to those on SNAP benefits, and blunting the agriculture lobby’s influence on the FDA’s nutrition department.
As of 2024, about 60% of Americans reported at least one chronic disease and 40% have two or more, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
