Americans of all political stripes want to regulate ultraprocessed foods. Is anyone listening?

The ultraprocessed food industry is yet again under attack, and it’s not just MAHA moms or scientists who study food calling for change.

Some 77% of frustrated Republicans, Democrats and Independents are now calling for mandated “large warning labels” on all packages of ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, according to a new poll.

Up to 70% of Americans want companies banned from advertising ultraprocessed foods on children’s television, while up to 87% want government safety testing for all laboratory-made chemicals long before they can be used in any food product, according to the survey published Wednesday in the American Journal of Public Health.

“Families are asking important questions about how food is made, marketed and regulated and how they can be a part of change,” said the survey’s senior author Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

To answer those questions, Gearhardt and a group of leading researchers have launched a public awareness campaign for Americans they call “Fed UP!” The website will provide consumers with explainers, research summaries, videos, social media content and practical resources to both understand ultraprocessed foods and advocate for healthier food environments.

The campaign will offer tips on petitioning local and state representatives for regulatory action and how to sway school board officials to reduce ultraprocessed foods in schools. Seventeen studies, editorials and reviews from a new UPF-focused edition of the American Journal of Public Health will also be available.

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Gearhardt, who specializes in food addiction, has coauthored studies that showed more than 12% of older adults in the United States — and 21% of women ages 50 to 64 are now clinically addicted to ultraprocessed food. Globally, 12% of children are addicted.

Her new study, published Wednesday in the AJPH, describes how the perfect combinations of sugars, fats and cosmetic additives can create an irresistible bite. Consumers are getting the message, she said.

Read the full article at CNN