AMA Hosts 1-Credit Webinar on Ultraprocessed Foods as Experts Challenge Broad Labels
Updated
Updated · American Medical Association · May 20
AMA Hosts 1-Credit Webinar on Ultraprocessed Foods as Experts Challenge Broad Labels
1 articles · Updated · American Medical Association · May 20
AMA President Bobby Mukkamala led a 1-credit webinar on ultraprocessed foods, focusing on their health risks and why some patients struggle to stop overeating them.
Experts said the category itself remains too vague for clear nutrition advice: David Ludwig argued evidence linking ultraprocessed foods to disease is largely observational and that broad labels can misclassify healthier packaged foods.
Neal Barnard urged consumers to focus less on the label and more on specific risks, especially processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, excess sodium, and high saturated fat.
Ashley Gearhardt said some heavily engineered foods can trigger addiction-like eating by combining refined carbohydrates, fat and marketing cues that intensify craving and weaken satiety.
The webinar follows a 2025 AMA directive to raise awareness of ultraprocessed-food risks, while the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines avoid the term and instead warn against highly processed carbohydrates.
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Ultraprocessed Foods Under Fire: Majority of U.S. Diet, Health Risks, and the Push for Regulation
Overview
Recent years have seen growing concern about ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), but efforts to regulate them face major challenges. Lawsuits blaming UPFs for health problems like diabetes have been dismissed because they lacked clear evidence and a universally accepted definition of UPFs. This lack of definition makes it hard for courts and policymakers to act. Experts warn that labeling foods as unhealthy based only on processing, without considering their full nutrient content, can mislead consumers and worsen health disparities. As scientists and regulators work to define UPFs, the debate continues over how best to protect public health.