ultra-processed foods

Nutrition experts at Pennsylvania State University are breaking down what counts as an ultra-processed food, a category now central to debates about diet and health. The explainer addresses how these industrially formulated products are defined, why they are linked to health concerns, and how shoppers can identify them, amid growing public and scientific attention to their role in modern diets.

Ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured products typically high in sugar, salt, fat and additives, made with little or no whole food. A Q&A explainer outlines what qualifies as ultra-processed, how the classification works, and why these foods are increasingly linked in research to obesity, heart disease and other health problems, as scientists and health agencies debate how to define and regulate them.