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UW faculty member contributes to American Heart Association advisory on ultraprocessed foods
The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued a new science advisory examining what is currently known about the growing impact of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) on nutrition and public health.
Published August 8, 2025, in Circulation, the advisory highlights the evidence linking excessive consumption of UPFs with adverse health outcomes, offering a comprehensive review of the evidence and actionable guidance for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.
Jennifer J. Otten, a professor in the University of Washington School of Public Health is a co-author of the advisory and helped shape the recommendations, which call for broad, coordinated strategies—spanning research, regulation, industry practices, and community interventions—to reduce the health risks posed by UPFs.
“This advisory comes at a critical moment,” said Otten. “As ultraprocessed foods increasingly dominate our food environments, the evidence linking them to poor health outcomes continues to grow. Our work calls for coordinated policy action—not just to reformulate products, but to transform the systems that shape daily food choices, especially for children. It’s time to rethink how we nourish our communities.”
What are ultraprocessed foods?
Most UPFs, particularly those commonly seen in U.S. dietary patterns, are high in saturated fat, added sugars and sodium (salt)and contribute to excess calories. These include sugar-sweetened drinks, ultraprocessed meats, refined grains, candy and commercial baked goods, among others. Some ultraprocessed foods, such as certain commercial whole grains, low-fat-low-sugar dairy, and some plant-based items, have positive nutritional value and, therefore, can be part of an overall healthy dietary pattern. Efforts to understand UPFs are often hindered by the lack of a consensus definition and differing classification systems based on processing criteria. This creates confusion for health care professionals and consumers.
With more than half of daily calories in the United States now coming from ultraprocessed foods, the report emphasizes the urgency of creating a healthier food supply and designing supports consumers in cutting back on the most harmful UPFs.
The advisory delineates the confusion around the varying definitions of UPFs and highlights the lack of detailed information on food additives and processing methods—which U.S. manufacturers are not required to dislose—for estimating the dose-response relationship between consumption and health impacts.
“More research is needed to better understand how certain ingredients, such as food additives, and processing techniques make a food unhealthy beyond the nutrient content,” said Otten.
“In the meantime, this AHA advisory recommends that people cut back on the most harmful UPFs for better short- and long-term health.”
The advisory underscores that meaningful progress will require policy and system-level solutions, not just individual dietary changes.
Learn More
- Read the American Heart Association scientific advisory: “Ultraprocessed Foods and Their Association With Cardiometabolic Health: Evidence, Gaps, and Opportunities: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association”
- Read the AHA press release
August 25, 2025