Americans get most of their calories from ultra-processed foods, new study shows

Here & Now Anytime

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

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Summary

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found Americans consume more than half of their calories from ultra-processed food. Cleveland Clinic dietitian Julia Zumpano explains the health implications.

And, President Trump’s new round of tariffs took effect Thursday, with more on the way. MSNBC’s Ali Velshi unpacks what this means for global trade.

Then, a new alert system in Arizona, called Turquoise Alerts, works to address a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the state. KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio shares what this means for tribal communities.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at Mathworks.com.
0:17.4	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:22.7	So we don't have a clear definition on an ultra-processed food.
0:27.5	Very calorically dense and very nutrient-deficient.
0:32.3	It's really anything besides Whole Foods.
0:38.0	To paraphrase a Supreme Court justice,
0:41.3	I can't define ultra-processed food,
0:44.2	but I know it when I see it.
1:00.7	It's Thursday, August 7th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBWR.
1:01.7	I'm Chris Bentley.
1:12.0	Today on the show, tariffs have been on and off for so long and on so many countries and products.
1:14.6	It can be hard for even economists to keep track.
1:21.9	Well, midnight marked a big turning point with major import taxes going into effect on countries all over the world.
1:25.1	We'll look at what it means for you and for the global economy.
1:32.2	Also, new turquoise alerts could help curb a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people in Arizona.
1:33.7	People go missing under unexplained circumstances, sometimes from the outside and sometimes
1:38.7	from within.
1:40.6	Before we get to that, though, new data from the CDC finds that Americans still get more than half their calories from ultra-processed foods.
1:51.1	It does also show a slight decline in that number over time, but still, it's high.
1:56.9	And the figure is closer to two-thirds for people under 18.
2:01.6	Eating a lot of processed foods can cause serious health problems.
	...

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