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Baby Food Bombshell: One in Three Food Products Ultra-Processed as Experts Warn of Obesity Timebomb
Around one in three ready-made baby products are ultra-processed and “setting children up for a life of obesity”, a new study has claimed. Researchers at the University of Leeds issued the warning after classifying 31% of the 632 snacks, cereals, pouches and jars of food they examined as ultra-processed (UPFs).
UPFs are mass-produced foods containing multiple ingredients and additives. They typically have high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar, and have been linked with diseases and bad health. Products made by top brands such as Ella’s Kitchen and Heinz were found to have up to 89% of their calories derived from sugar — including some non-UPF snacks marketed as healthy.
Popular UPF items such as “melty” sticks and puffs were found to be low in nutritional value, but many fruit-based purees were also shown to have high sugar levels.
West Virginia Scrambles to Strip Artificial Dyes From School Meals Before Classes Start
U.S. News & World Report reported:
When school starts in West Virginia next month, 240,000 students in districts large and small will notice something missing from their cafeteria trays. Gone will be red Jell-O fruit cups, yogurt topped with brightly hued sprinkles and Cool Ranch Doritos — all foods made with synthetic dyes.
In their place will be foods that contain colors made only from natural sources — such as vegetables, spices and seeds — after West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a sweeping new law in March banning seven artificial dyes from school meals.
Other states have enacted similar laws that would strip artificial dyes from school meals, but West Virginia’s action is the first to take effect, starting Aug. 1. It triggered a four-month sprint that that left state and local nutrition directors reeling. “I think the initial reaction was like, ‘Wow, what are we going to do?’” said Tony Crago, director of child nutrition for the West Virginia Department of Education. “Where do we start?”
‘Ultra-Processed’ Foods Could Hike Your Odds for Lung Cancer
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Experts already know that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is bad news for your health, and new research suggests these foods can raise risks for a major killer: lung cancer. Besides the fact that ultra-processed foods are often high in salt, sugar and fat, people who consumed a lot of these foods also tended to avoid healthier, cancer-fighting fare, researchers noted.
“Low consumption of minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains was linked to increased lung cancer risk,” noted a team led by Yongzhong Wu of Chongqing Cancer Hospital, in Chongqing, China. They published their findings July 29 in the journal Thorax.
Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from whole foods, like saturated fats, starches and added sugars. They also contain a wide variety of additives to make them more tasty, attractive and shelf-stable, including colors, emulsifiers, flavors and stabilizers. Examples include packaged baked goods, sugary cereals, ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products and deli cold cuts.
Consumption of ultra-processed foods has already been associated with 32 health problems, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer and depression. The new study may add the leading cancer killer, lung cancer, to that list.
Commissioner Miller Praises Texas Legislature for Putting a Fork in Lab-Grown Meat
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller celebrated that Texas officially became the seventh state in the nation to ban the sale and production of lab-grown meat. The legislation, recently signed by Governor Greg Abbott, is now set to take effect on Sept. 1. The measure will ban the sale of cell-cultured protein products for human consumption across the Lone Star State for two years.
“This ban is a massive win for Texas ranchers, producers, and consumers,” said Commissioner Miller. Texans have a God-given right to know what’s on their plate, and for millions of Texans, it better come from a pasture, not a lab. It’s plain cowboy logic that we must safeguard our real, authentic meat industry from synthetic alternatives.”
SB 261, authored by Senator Perry and sponsored by Rep. Stan Gerdes, ensures that only beef and other animal proteins raised with natural and traditional methods are sold to consumers. This marks a decisive move in support of real Texas food and real Texas ranchers.
Fifth Cultivated Meat Company Gains FDA Approval
Cultivated meat company Believer Meats has announced it has reached two major milestones. The Israeli-based firm, formerly Future Meat Technologies, received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “no questions” letter, a critical point to commercialization in the U.S., and signifies the FDA has concluded its rigorous pre-market evaluation of Believer Meats’ product safety dossier.
Additionally, the company has completed construction of its Wilson, North Carolina facility — the world’s only large-scale cultivated meat production site. According to the company announcement, commissioning of the factory is underway now, and Believer Meats is working with the USDA on final steps for the facility’s grant of inspection.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO Gustavo Burger said, “This is more than just progress — it’s a defining moment, a bold leap forward in our vision to lead food innovation that cares for the planet. As we move forward, our focus remains on execution — advancing cultivated meat from promise to product, and contributing to a more resilient, sustainable food system.”
Thicker, Tastier Lab-Grown Beef May Soon Hit the Grill
Unlike previous attempts that produced only thin, inconsistent fibers, the new method uses a three-molecule cocktail to generate muscle that not only looks but contracts and functions like real meat. While it’s not yet approved for consumption in Switzerland, this new approach could help cultivated beef catch up to lab-grown chicken, which is already for sale in Singapore.
Led by regenerative biology expert Professor Ori Bar-Nur, the ETH Zurich team grew bovine muscle from myoblasts — precursor cells isolated from standard beef cuts like fillet and sirloin. The breakthrough came when researchers added a specific combination of three small molecules to the cell culture medium: Forskolin: boosts cAMP signaling, RepSox: blocks TGF-β receptors and CHIR99021: inhibits GSK3-β to promote WNT signaling.
Known collectively as “FRC,” this cocktail was originally developed by Bar-Nur during his postdoctoral work at Harvard. It jumpstarts cell differentiation and helps produce muscle that more closely resembles what’s found in a cow — not just in form but in gene and protein expression, too.
