This audio was automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
Diving briefs:
- The Non-GMO Project announced the introduction of Non-UPF Verification, a label for foods free from ultra-processed ingredients.
- In a press release, the nonprofit pointed to internal research that found 85% of consumers want to avoid ultra-processed foods. The Non-GMO Project said avoiding these foods can be overwhelming or difficult for people trying to make healthier choices.
- The National Institute of Health defined advanced processing in 2019 as foods that modify the nutritional content of ingredients to increase profitability, convenience, and shelf life.
Dive Insights:
Awareness of food manufacturing processes has been scrutinized over the past five years as consumers seek to make increasingly healthier food and beverage purchases. A 2019 study from the NIH found that more than half of all calories consumed in the United States are derived from ultra-processed foods, making them a major target for health-conscious consumers.
Food and beverage producers in the better sector are trying to capitalize on buyers’ interest in products with natural ingredients. Non-UPF verified labels can help consumers identify more naturally derived products.
Non-GMO projects have found success among health-focused consumers over the past 20 years, especially when it comes to industrial agriculture and genetic modification of food ingredients. This organization characterizes genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as those that alter the basic composition of food. It involves the modification of food products that are harmful to farmers and the environment.
The Non-GMO Project found a link between the food industry’s adoption of GMOs and ultra-processed ingredients. Spins data released in 2022 showed frozen and refrigerated meat, poultry and seafood products with non-GMO labels outpaced food without labels, increasing 53% over two years.
“When we set out to address GMOs in 2007, we recognized that genetic engineering was one way industrial food production distances us from natural ingredients,” Megan Westgate, founder and CEO of the Non-GMO Project, said in a statement. “Today’s ultrasonic foods represent a deeper departure: they take familiar ingredients and essentially make them no longer recognized by our bodies as food.”
Some food processors have disputed claims about ultra-processed foods, defying classification as a fad that is entirely rooted in accurate health advice.
Sean McBride, founder of DSM Strategic Communications, argued in an opinion column last year that “a simple change in nomenclature could attract public attention.”
McBride, who once worked at the Consumer Brands Association. Food industry groups need to highlight how they are already making our food system healthier. McBride said that moderate amounts of sugar, fat, oil and sodium can accompany healthier foods like protein and whole grains in a person’s diet.
