Next step: Direct studies of the mechanisms. Is it the lack of fiber, a larger dose of sugar, slow transit time or chemical additives that make liquid sugar worse for health?

While ultraprocessed food companies pursue profits at the cost of making populations obese, pharmaceutical companies pursue profits with drugs promising to make the same people thin. Why not make money off both sides of the world's obesity crisis?

I found the study discussed here to be quite compelling, with large samples from different regions of the world. The next step is to sort out why liquid sugar is worse for health: No fiber? Too easy to overconsume? Short transit time in the gut? Or all of the above?

As more people experience an end to craving and "food noise" from taking GLP-1s, we may see a greater willingness to accept that #ultraprocessedfoods are addictive, like alcohol and tobacco.

New GLP-1 drugs have the potential to change “the persistent, widespread cultural assumption that obesity is a problem of individuals rather than a societal problem of the food system.” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write: issues.org/ozempic-era-...

Excellent speech by @traceywoodruff.bsky.social If the administration is serious about making America healthy they need to fund environmental research. It is science fiction to think that you can cut 55% of EPA’s budget and expect people’s health to improve. www.youtube.com/live/3l-bOsI...

Now we know that if a study is funded by the meat industry, it is 4 times more likely to conclude that red meat has positive or benign effects on cardiovascular disease risk. NIH should fund nutrition scientists so they can stop working for the food industry. ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S000...

Please join me for this free, online webinar. I will be sharing new results from my research using the @ucsf-industrydocs.bsky.social library on the tobacco industry's role in developing #ultraprocessedfoods. May 22, 2025 9am - 10am PT | 12pm - 1pm ET Zoom (virtual event) lnkd.in/eEY-4PWF

I encourage everyone to join me at the UCSF Global Oral Health Symposium, held for free and online. I will be speaking about recent developments in the #sodatax debate and this recent publication in @jama.com: lnkd.in/gd2_Z5bU. @ahascience.bsky.social @americanheart.bsky.social

Read my new piece in @jama.com on how Coca-Cola and Pepsi plan to sue the small City of San Cruz because voters had the audacity to pass a #sodatax to pay for health initiatives. Courageous officials in this small city are preparing to stand up to the corporate bully. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Read my new piece on how GLP-1 agonist medications could fundamentally shift the scientific paradigm for obesity to more closely align with models of tobacco and alcohol addiction, written for the @nationalacademies.org @issuesinst.bsky.social #obesity #ozempic #addiction issues.org/ozempic-era-...

Looking forward to this free webinar on what's going on with #ultraprocessedfoods in California.

Thanks to @jaketapper.bsky.social for inviting me on his show yesterday! www.cnn.com/2025/04/17/h...

The New Tobacco? A Discussion about Ultra-Processed Foods Mon 5/5 at 12pm You are welcome to join a free online webinar hosted by @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social on Monday, May 5 at 12p PT. Gain insight into #processedfoods as the new tobacco. Register today: lnkd.in/gcQ6-GwR #foodpolicy #obesity

My lab is in mourning today about Kevin Hall's early retirement from NIH. As an addiction scientist, it especially troubles me to hear that he felt forced to adhere to preconceived ideas about food addiction. That just isn't how science is done. edition.cnn.com/2025/04/16/h...

This is another big loss at NIH. He explains why in the thread below. Our recent conversation about what we should eat erictopol.substack.com/p/kevin-hall...

‪I encourage everyone to read Murray Carpenter's new book on Coca-Cola's disinformation campaign to muddle nutrition science. He tells my story of the San Francisco soda tax. He will be reading from his book at the Ferry Building this Sunday at 2. @murray-journo.bsky.social new @mitpress.bsky.social

New paper - Medicaid "unwinding" associated with net decrease in buprenorphine prescribing for opioid use disorder (some offset from commercial insurance). Some state policies mitigated this negative impact. Hats off to @drsumedhagupta.bsky.social for this work! jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

This wonderful profile of Marion Nestle at @newyorkuniversity.bsky.social by @nytimes.com captures her boundless energy and practical approach nutrition through an omnivorous whole foods diet. Worth a read! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/w...

When you destroy fiber, it can't act on your behalf. Consider apple versus apple sauce versus apple juice: youtu.be/00CYtZ366do?...

It's Document Drop Day! 🎉 We added over 220K new Teva and Allergan documents and 200K Juul Labs documents to the IDL today. Read more about the new documents and get the latest education and research updates in our monthly newsletter: conta.cc/3RmmUSa #industrydocuments #library

🚨 Researching Juul Labs & the North Carolina settlement? UNC Libraries has you covered! Their research guide dives into the #Juul Labs Collection’s origins, industry practices, public health impacts, and more. Check it out: guides.lib.unc.edu/juul #PublicHealth #Research @unclibrary.bsky.social

The target marketing of #ultraprocessedfoods to toddlers is a strategy that many of today's food corporations (Kraft, Nabisco, General Foods) learned during decades of ownership by tobacco companies--instill brand loyalty as young as possible. @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

I am among > 90 scientists boycotting a U Copenhagen study designed to "rethink" #ultraprocessedfoods. The foundation of Novo Nordisk (maker of #ozempic) is funding these researchers, who have minimized health concerns about these foods. @melissamialon.bsky.social www.tjekdet.dk/indsigt/dans...

This systems analysis holds keys to how America might exit its current trajectory of rising #obesity and #chronicdisease rates. Our inability to prevent these problems comes down to a societal bias towards blaming individuals rather than the #ultraprocessed #foodindustry. #weightstigma

Food insecurity is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic disease. Food security interventions should focus on diet quality and nutrition security.

A Danish investigative journalist has exposed Novo Nordisk's (makers of #Ozempic) efforts to fund research that sows doubt about the Nova classification defining #ultraprocessedfoods. This is a familiar pattern with health-harming industries, when science threatens their commercial interests.

There is so much great innovation going on at the state level, spurred on by growing recognition that #ultraprocessedfoods harm kids. The Texas Senate just passed a bill that will put PE back in schools and getting toxic chemicals out of school meals. Way to go, Texas! @texassenategop.bsky.social

This policy is moving us in the wrong direction. We need more robust local food systems to get fresh fruit and vegetables into food deserts. This is essential for addressing the nation's nutrition security crisis because ~2/3 of food-insecure Americans live in a USDA-designated food desert. #food

I don't think canceling food bank and school lunch programs designed to bring health, local foods to these essential services is very MAHA, do you? www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

An informative webinar, free to all, led by my colleague, Rob Lustig. Please join!

This is a great way for researchers and members of the general public to gain access to the world's largest digital archive of documents on health-harming industries. It's easy to use and remarkably informative to pull back the veil.

Good news! The Predatory Marketing Prevention Act just passed through committee this morning. Following this, the bill will get put on an active list and get voted on by the Senate. Props to @zellnor.bsky.social and Asm. Karines Reyes for making moves to protect New York kids! 👏👏

He doesn't care #food born illnesses have been increasing; Experts Warn of #PublicHealth Risks as the #Trump Administration Eliminates 2 Critical #FoodSafety Committees #health #GroceryStore #family #shopping #America #maga www.foodandwine.com/trump-admini...

The new administration is saying one thing and doing another. That matters, especially when it comes to health.

My research, published in @bmj.com, shows that food and beverage companies learned how to target market to children while they were owned by the tobacco giants, RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris. Read: www.bmj.com/content/364/... and the @nytimes.com piece on the study: www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/h...

1 in 3 US adults have at least three components of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, a disorder made up of heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes & obesity. Collaboration across specialties can improve outcomes. http://spr.ly/6048uP0fo 📷

Unfortunately, conflicts of interest abound in #nutrition science, leading to biased results in whole bodies of evidence. I recently gave a paper on this topic at the @health.nationalacademies.org

Mayo Clinic's partnership with the dairy industry is drawing criticism for its potential to undermine its credibility.

From women scientists at the University of California to NIH and NSF: Please keep our labs open so we can continue life-saving research. @altnih4science.bsky.social @statnews.com @marchforsciencemn.bsky.social

Come join us! We'll be discussing the FDA’s outlook for food chemical safety, as well as how New York’s Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act takes critical steps to protect us against dangerous chemicals. We hope to see you there! Register for free here: act.cspinet.org/a/red-3-what...

Glad to see that states are acting on this. I'm currently helping our state health department respond to @governor.ca.gov executive order on #ultraprocessedfoods

We just launched the UCSF Center to End Corporate Harm, which brings scientists who study a range of industries as vectors of chronic disease. Commercial products, including ultraprocessed foods, tobacco and alcohol, are the leading cause of death in the 21st century. prheucsf.blog/2025/01/16/n...

Stunned by attacks on the scientific research system, early career scientists plan a D.C. demonstration and a national ‘Stand Up for Science’ event.

"Thomas Galligan, Ph.D., Principal Scientist for Food Additives and Supplements with [CSPI]...said dyes have no nutritional benefit and are nothing more than a marketing tool." Say it louder for the people in the back! 📣

High sugar. Virtually no nutritional value... and yet, global sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is on the rise. indianexpress.com/article/life...

In the developed world, we are lonelier, more anxious and more depressed than ever. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/m...

Big day in Albany! Yesterday, CSPI's Jensen Jose, Sarah Sorscher, and Meghan Enslow joined Assemblymember Anna Kelles, Environmental Working Group, @consumerreports.org, and @iphnetwork.bsky.social to meet with lawmakers to garner support for the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act.