Federal food law clearly prohibits “any poisonous or deleterious substance which [may render [a food] injurious to health].” For decades, this has primarily been used to combat acute foodborne illnesses from contaminants like Listeria and salmonella. While protecting against these immediate threats is vital, they account for an estimated 1,400 American deaths annually. Alarmingly, chronic illnesses linked to diet, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, claim approximately 1,600 American lives every day. This stark contrast begs the question: Is Our Food Killing Us slowly but surely?
Mounting scientific evidence points towards ultra-processed foods as a major culprit behind this chronic disease epidemic. These are not your grandmother’s home-cooked meals. Ultra-processed foods, ranging from frozen pizzas to sugary cereals, are industrial formulations derived from substances extracted from foods or synthesized in labs. They have become dietary staples, raising serious concerns about their long-term health impacts.
The time has come for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to broaden their regulatory scope. They must leverage their existing legal authority to protect public health from the dangers of highly processed foods. This necessitates a significant shift in approach, prioritizing the prevention of chronic food illnesses with the same urgency as acute ones. It’s not just a paradigm shift; it’s common sense.
Chronic food illnesses are a leading cause of mortality in the United States, contributing to roughly 678,000 deaths each year. This figure surpasses the combined American combat fatalities from all wars throughout history. To put it in perspective, the annual death toll from diet-related diseases exceeds the total combat deaths from the Revolutionary War to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Beyond mortality, poor diets inflict immense suffering and economic burden. A staggering two-thirds of severe COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization were linked to four diet-related conditions: obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure. Preventing these underlying conditions through better nutrition could have averted countless hospitalizations. The economic burden of nutrition-related chronic diseases was estimated at a staggering $16 trillion between 2011 and 2020, highlighting the immense societal costs associated with our current food system.
About 678,000 Americans die each year from chronic food illness, a number exceeding all US combat deaths in history combined, underscoring the severity of the issue and raising concerns about is our food killing us.
The link between ultra-processed foods and these alarming health trends is becoming increasingly clear. A groundbreaking study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigated the reasons behind the surge in obesity rates. Volunteers were randomly assigned to diets of either minimally processed or ultra-processed foods, carefully matched for nutrients like carbohydrates, sodium, fat, and sugar. Researchers initially hypothesized that weight gain would be similar in both groups due to equivalent nutrient profiles. However, the results dramatically challenged this assumption.
Participants on the ultra-processed food diet consumed an average of 500 extra calories daily and experienced rapid weight gain. Conversely, when these same individuals switched to the minimally processed diet, they lost weight. This pivotal study suggests that the problem isn’t solely about macronutrient ratios. It points to the additives and industrial processing methods themselves as potential drivers of illness. Urgent and extensive research is needed to fully understand these mechanisms.
Fortunately, regulatory agencies already possess the legal framework to address this public health crisis. The 1958 amendment to food safety laws explicitly states that no food additive should be deemed safe if it induces cancer, a chronic illness, in humans or animals. Furthermore, the 2015 FDA ban on artificial trans fats, based on their link to heart disease, sets a precedent for regulating food components to prevent chronic illnesses.
These legal foundations should be utilized to regulate the composition and design of ultra-processed foods. It’s crucial that our food supply remains delicious, affordable, and convenient – qualities that are understandably valued by Americans. However, it must also be formulated to support health and well-being when consumed regularly.
The challenge is to ensure our food is both appealing and healthy, addressing the question is our food killing us by demanding better food industry practices and regulations.
Effective action requires strong leadership and dedicated funding. FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf and USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety José Emilio Esteban must champion this cause. Through strategic regulations and robust enforcement, they can incentivize food companies to prioritize health-promoting food formulations, balancing these incentives with market demands for taste, cost, and convenience.
Financial investment is equally critical. The President and Congress must allocate substantial budgetary resources. A minimum of $200 million should be earmarked in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget to tackle chronic food illness. The previous year’s budget request for nutrition security, regulation, and research was a mere $135 million, which ultimately received no funding, highlighting a significant gap between stated priorities and resource allocation.
Commissioner Califf himself has acknowledged the need for greater funding for nutrition initiatives, stating, “We need leaders who will be very persuasive with government.” He must embody this persuasive leadership, elevating nutrition as a top priority and securing the necessary resources for effective FDA food programs.
History offers a successful model for addressing food-related crises. The 1993 E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated hamburgers triggered a decisive response. With infection rates soaring to 8 cases per 100,000, the USDA declared these bacteria an adulterant and adopted FDA’s preventative controls. Collaborating closely with the meat industry, they provided training and technical support to eliminate E. coli contamination. Consistent USDA inspections further reinforced these measures. Today, E. coli cases are down to approximately 1 per 100,000, demonstrating the effectiveness of strong regulations, adequate funding, and inter-agency cooperation.
The time is ripe to apply this successful model to the challenge of chronic food illness. The FDA and USDA must collaborate to create a 21st-century food safety system. This system must protect us not only from acute food poisoning but also from the long-term, deadly consequences of chronic exposure to ultra-processed foods. Our health, and indeed our lives, depend on it, demanding that we seriously consider is our food killing us and take decisive action.
