New Government-Endorsed Study on Processed Foods Met with Criticism

By M.C. Millman

A new study funded by the United States Department of Agriculture aimed to prove, without ever being tested on people, that ultra-processed foods (UPF) could be a part of a healthy diet. 

Researchers built a menu with 91% of calories from a list of UPFs to measure diet quality based on the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015). The menu had excess sodium, did not contain enough whole grains, and lacked adequate vitamin D, vitamin E, and choline, giving it an HEI-2015 score of 86 out of 100 possible points. 

Despite this, researchers concluded, "Healthy dietary patterns can include most of their energy from UPF, still receive a high diet quality score, and contain adequate amounts of most macro- and micronutrients."

However, some nutrition experts disagree with this conclusion. Kevin Hall, Ph.D., the Integrative Physiology Section Chief at NIDDK-NIH, expressed his opinions on the study on Twitter. He wrote, "Interesting that USDA is actively promoting to the public (via press release) a diet very high in ultra-processed foods as being 'healthy' despite its high Na [sodium] content and without the diet actually ever being tested in people." 

Marion Nestle, American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate, wrote on her blog, "The USDA's Agricultural Research Service is a marketing arm of the food industry. It is heavily conflicted."

Her reasoning for why this study was performed is that it is "to cast doubt on the concept of ultra-processed foods (UPF) and all the research showing that UPF diets induce people to eat more calories (see the study by Kevin Hall et al.) and are strongly associated in hundreds of studies with poor health, evidence that by this time is overwhelming and incontrovertible."

Conflicts of interest for three of the study authors were also included at the end of the study. The authors were affiliated with soybean producer entities, an ingredient commonly found in UPFs, and other food industry institutions. 

"By simplistically analyzing a diet and considering only nutrients, the authors produce a false conclusion that it is possible to compose a healthy diet with ultra-processed foods," said Carlos Monteiro, Professor of Nutrition and Public Health at the School of Public Health, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. "In reality, they have not even been able to prove this hypothesis: the article itself highlights the excessive sodium and insufficient amount of whole grains."

The researchers noted the study's limitations as well, saying, "We do not know the physiological responses this diet might elicit in humans... This study does not address the social, economic, or nutritional drives that may be responsible for the greater purchase and consumption of UPFs."