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Can We Agree Kids Don’t Need Doritos at School?
Dr. Smith Taillie is a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a director of the UNC. global food research program. When my daughter started kindergarten, I was shocked when she brought home a book bag full of empty Doritos bags and muffin wrappers. She’d been buying them with her lunch card at the school canteen, along with other packaged snacks she rarely got at home.
I shouldn’t have been surprised; I’ve spent my career studying why it’s hard for children to eat healthfully in our modern food environment. Ultraprocessed foods are cheap, tasty and ubiquitous, including in schools. They make up about 70% of the food supply and two-thirds of the calories consumed by American children.
Since January, some two dozen bills introduced across 15 states have proposed targeting ultraprocessed foods through school bans or labels. The catch? Most have equated ultraprocessing with artificial coloring, after the campaign by the health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., against artificial food dyes. Yet foods with synthetic dyes make up fewer than 10% of packaged ultraprocessed foods available in the U.S.
Botulism Outbreak Sickens More Than 50 Babies and Expands to All ByHeart Products
Federal health officials on Wednesday expanded an outbreak of infant botulism tied to recalled ByHeart baby formula to include all illnesses reported since the company began production in March 2022. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said investigators “cannot rule out the possibility that contamination might have affected all ByHeart formula products” ever made.
The outbreak now includes at least 51 infants in 19 states. The new case definition includes “any infant with botulism who was exposed to ByHeart formula at any time since the product’s release,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent illness was reported on Dec. 1. No deaths have been reported in the outbreak, which was announced Nov. 8.
Why Ultra-Processed Foods Make Teens Eat More When They Aren’t Hungry
Young adults respond differently to ultra-processed foods, with 18- to 21-year-olds consuming more and eating when not hungry after just two weeks of exposure. The study suggests adolescence may be a uniquely sensitive period where processed foods can shape long-term eating habits.
Rates of excess weight are climbing among young people in the U.S. An analysis published in The Lancet predicts that by 2050, about one in three Americans between 15 and 24 years old will meet the criteria for obesity, putting them at higher risk for serious health problems. Many influences contribute to this trend, including genetics and low levels of physical activity, but diet plays a central role.
Ultra-processed foods — which make up 55 to 65% of what young adults eat in the U.S. — have been associated with metabolic syndrome, poor cardiovascular health, and other conditions in adolescents.
Toxic Chemicals in Food Cost the World $3 Trillion a Year, New Report Finds
Four groups of chemicals in the global food system cost the world nearly $3 trillion a year by causing disease, decreasing fertility and polluting water and soil, according to a new report. The report, authored by the sustainability consultancy and investment firm Systemiq, finds that phthalates, bisphenols, pesticides and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are key threats to human health.
The researchers said the available evidence on human exposure and associated health risks from those four groups of chemicals show risks that include heart issues, cancers, reproductive, developmental and immune system disorders, birth defects and endocrine disruption — creating estimated health care costs between $1.4 and $2.2 trillion each year. They estimated an additional $640 billion is spent each year due to water quality issues and agricultural losses.
The substances are widespread in the production, processing and packaging of food, and regulations are severely lacking in protecting consumers from these toxic chemicals, the report states. However, the research team said there is a massive opportunity via policy change and innovation to drastically cut contamination and exposure, which could save almost $2 trillion a year globally.
SNAP Junk Food Ban Expands to 6 More States
Six more states agreed Wednesday to ban the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for junk food under new deals with the Trump administration.
Why it matters: The move expands the Trump administration’s use of the federal safety net to expand its Make America Healthy Again agenda. More SNAP recipients will be restricted from buying certain sugary drinks and food. Driving the news: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled the deals with Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
“We all know we’re at the point where we must do something to correct the chronic health problems that Americans face,” Rollins said. Twelve states previously adopted waiver terms. Mehmet Oz, who runs Medicare and Medicaid, said states that ban junk food will get extra funds. “As the six documents here that were signed by Secretary Rollins today would attest, there’s a lot of interest in this, you get paid extra money.”
Consuming Lots of Energy Drinks May Raise Heart Disease and Stroke Risk, Say Doctors
Heavy consumption of energy drinks may raise the risk of heart disease and pose a serious risk of stroke, doctors have warned. Millions of people worldwide regularly drink the products, which are non-alcoholic and typically contain more than 150mg of caffeine per litre, very high glucose-based sugar content and varying quantities of other chemicals.
Doctors in Nottingham, England, sounded the alarm after an otherwise fit and healthy man in his 50s had a stroke and was left with permanent numbness in his hands and feet. On questioning, he said he drank an average of eight energy drinks a day.
The case, reported in the medical journal BMJ Case Reports, also prompted doctors to call for tighter regulation of sales and advertising of energy drinks.
