The American diet is generally unhealthy. That is the main takeaway from a new study that explored the public’s food and beverage consumption across the U.S. in 2018.
The population has been overexposed to ultra-processed products, researchers said. Nearly 80 percent of total calorie consumption of Americans comes from store-bought foods and beverages.
Such products are high in energy, saturated fat, sugar and salt. Processed foods have long been linked to chronic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease.
“To say that our food supply is highly processed won’t shock anyone,” Abigail Baldridge, study author and a biostatistician at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a t. “But it’s important that we hold food and beverage manufacturers accountable by continually documenting how they’re doing in terms of providing healthy foods for consumers.”
The study, published in the journal , aims to encourage food manufacturers to offer healthy products and reduce unhealthy food and beverage in the market. Researchers said there is no ongoing regular surveillance over grocery shelves that would ensure availability of healthy goods.
“Food and beverage products continuously evolve, and reports like these highlight opportunities to make critical changes within specific manufacturers or product categories to reduce saturated fat, salt and sugars,” Baldridge said.
The findings come from the analysis of 230,156 products being sold across the U.S. Researchers said that 71 percent of common products are ultra-processed. The list includes bread, snacks, sugary drinks, salad dressings and sweets.
Compared to products in the United Kingdom, breads in the U.S. have 12 percent higher sodium content. Data for the study came from Chicago company Label Insight that covers over 80 percent of all food and beverage products in the U.S.
To help consumers avoid or reduce unhealthy food consumption, the researchers launched the mobile app, FoodSwitch. People can use the app to scan packaged products and determine if it is healthy or not.
Users can also add data to FoodSwitch by uploading photos of a product’s barcode. This will then enable other people to access its nutritional label and packaging.
