US ultraprocessed food policy accelerates with bipartisan support

At lunchtime on a gloomy day in December, an eager crowd packed an event room at the US Senate’s Dirksen office building. Officials from the Donald J. Trump administration, members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers, nonprofit leaders, physicians, academics, and students were all there to talk and hear about a topic very much in the cultural and political zeitgeist: ultraprocessed foods. On offer for lunch were foods meant to represent the opposite: pan-seared salmon, roasted portobello mushrooms, quinoa pilaf, baked sweet potatoes, grilled zucchini.The event, “Eating Ourselves Sick? Ultraprocessed Foods and US Health Policy,” hosted by Tufts University and the nonprofit organization Food Tank, was so well attended that guests could barely squeeze between the room’s full dining tables.“Ultraprocessed foods bring a lot of people together because they’re so concerning. It’s something that Republicans and Democrats should all be concerned about,” Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank, said at the event. Getting so many politicians to participate was “surprisingly easy,” she said. “They want to talk about these issues, and they want to make sure that their constituents know that they’re concerned and that they’re making headway.”This gathering came at a time of growing policy action on ultraprocessed foods at the state, federal, and international levels, backed by people across the political spectrum. The food industry is fighting back, and experts forecast a litigious year ahead. In the meantime, people in the US will begin to see the effects of this movement on the foods that can be served in