Operationally Defining and Targeting Ultraprocessed Foods: Insights From US Policy Proposals.
Objectives. To examine operational ultraprocessed food (UPF) definitions and policy scope in existing US policy proposals. Methods. We conducted a search for federal and state policy proposals targeting UPFs through December 2025. Results. We identified 43 proposals targeting UPFs between 2021 and 2...
| Publicado en: | American Journal of Public Health Vol. 116; no. 7; pp. 1025 - 1030 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
American Public Health Association
Jul2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=194643728&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 194643728 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00900036 APH jtl: American Journal of Public Health issn: 00900036 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 116 iid: 7 pid: 44 pub: American Public Health Association artinfo: ui: 194643728 10.2105/AJPH.2026.308464 ppf: 1025 ppct: 5 formats: tig: atl: Operationally Defining and Targeting Ultraprocessed Foods: Insights From US Policy Proposals. aug: au: D'Angelo Campos, Aline Krieger, James W. Prestemon, Carmen E. Hollingsworth, Bridget A. Taillie, Lindsey Smith affil: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Department of Health Systems and Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington Healthy Food America, Seattle, Washington, Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina., Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, su: United States Health policy State governments Marketing Federal government Food industry Food supply Health promotion School health services Packaged foods Food additives Food labeling sug: subj: Health policy State governments Marketing Federal government Food industry Food supply Health promotion School health services United States Packaging and Labeling Services Chemical (except agricultural) and allied product merchant wholesalers All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing Perishable Prepared Food Manufacturing Marketing Consulting Services Administration of Public Health Programs Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers Packaged foods Food additives Food labeling ab: Objectives. To examine operational ultraprocessed food (UPF) definitions and policy scope in existing US policy proposals. Methods. We conducted a search for federal and state policy proposals targeting UPFs through December 2025. Results. We identified 43 proposals targeting UPFs between 2021 and 2025. Most (93%) hailed from states. About a third (35%) defined UPFs by listing narrow sets of specific food additives. Some provided definitions more closely related to Nova's: 9% referenced classes of additives considered "cosmetic" by Nova, whereas 21% directly referenced or paraphrased Nova but lacked comprehensive lists of targeted ingredients. A final third (35%) did not provide any definition. Most targeted foods served or sold in schools (58%). Others proposed UPF warning labels (12%) and marketing restrictions (5%). Conclusions. Proposals mostly targeted school foods and frequently defined UPFs using narrow lists of additives that lack evidence as reliable UPF indicators. Public Health Implications. Informing policymakers about existing and emerging operational UPF definitions consistent with science-based approaches is urgent. (Am J Public Health. 2026;116(7):1025–1029. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308464) pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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