Think You Can Spot Ultraprocessed Foods? Probably Not

Most Americans are sure they can spot ultraprocessed foods in the grocery aisle. A new national survey says that confidence is mostly bluff: seventy-two percent of adults say they can identify whether a food is ultraprocessed, but only about a third say they are very or extremely familiar with what the term even means.

The gap matters because shopping behavior has already raced ahead of understanding. The poll, commissioned by the American Heart Association and conducted by the Harris Poll in mid-June 2026 among just over two thousand adults, found that nine in ten have at least heard the term, and two-thirds believe they could explain it to someone else. The catch is that the survey measured self-reported confidence, not whether anyone could actually classify a food correctly, as Men's Journal reported.

What the Numbers Actually Show

Seven in ten respondents said they try to avoid ultraprocessed foods. About three-quarters said a food labeled ultraprocessed must be unhealthy, while three in five assumed the reverse — that a product without the label is healthy. Neither assumption is a reliable guide, because processing alone says nothing about how much sodium, added sugar, or saturated fat a product contains, nor about the nutrients it does offer.

The disconnect lands in a very specific place: the label itself. When a shopper hears the word ultraprocessed, they hear a warning siren. But the term describes how a food is made, not what is inside it. A fortified whole-grain cereal and a candy bar can sit in the same broad category while doing very different things to your body.

Why Processing Alone Does Not Tell the Story

The Heart Association's own 2025 scientific advisory found growing evidence linking diets heavy in many ultraprocessed foods with poorer diet quality and higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiometabolic conditions. Those eating patterns also tend to come with more sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat — nutrients already tied to cardiovascular risk when eaten in excess.

But the same body of research comes with a caveat the headline numbers miss. Some foods that count as ultraprocessed under the standard definitions — fortified cereals, plant-based milks, canned vegetables — can absolutely belong in a balanced diet. Judging a food solely by its processing level can push shoppers away from affordable, nutritious options and toward products with cleaner-sounding labels that are just as salty or sugary.

This is where the confidence gap turns costly. If shoppers are making decisions based on a label they cannot define, they are outsourcing their nutrition judgment to vibes. The survey suggests that is exactly what is happening: people are avoiding foods they cannot identify, using a term they cannot explain.

A Federal Definition Is Stuck in Limbo

Part of the confusion is official. In July 2025, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture asked for public input to shape a federal definition of ultraprocessed foods. More than a year later, a draft was sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review — where, according to Medical Xpress's coverage of the polling research, it has sat for two months.

The Heart Association, one of only a handful of public health groups granted a meeting with the budget office, is pressing for the definition to be released. Dr. Mariell Jessup, the association's chief science and medical officer, accused large soda companies and other industry interests of working to block the proposal, calling it "a blatant display of their true motives to protect profits at the expense of public health."

Jessup also argued that a definition is only a first step. Shoppers need clear information about nutrients and overall nutritional quality, not just processing levels, which is why the association keeps pushing for mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling alongside the definition fight.

How to Shop Smarter Right Now

Until a federal definition exists, the most reliable tool in the aisle is still the nutrition facts panel. Tune out the front-of-package theater for a moment and check sodium, added sugars, saturated fat, and fiber per serving — the numbers that actually predict how a food treats your body.

Second, treat "not ultraprocessed" as a neutral fact, not a health claim. A sizable share of survey respondents assumed unlabeled foods were healthy, but plenty of minimally processed foods — butter, honey, white flour — are not health foods in large amounts. The label describes manufacturing, not virtue.

The bottom line is less about fear than about precision. Ultraprocessed foods are worth understanding, not just avoiding, and right now most of us are skipping the understanding part. For more on how food policy reaches the grocery shelf, see our coverage of California's new certification for non-UPF products, or browse more cooking and recipes stories.