Americans get 55% of their calories from ultra-processed foods

A new federal analysis shows that the bulk of the American diet comes from ultra-processed foods—those calorie-packed products loaded with sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of the nation’s daily calories now come from these foods.

While nutrition experts have long warned that processed items dominate the U.S. diet, particularly for children and teens, this is the first time the CDC has confirmed it using nationwide dietary data collected between August 2021 and August 2023.

The findings arrive as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ramps up criticism of processed foods, arguing they play a central role in the country’s chronic disease crisis. “We are poisoning ourselves and it’s coming principally from these ultra-processed foods,” Kennedy said in a Fox News interview earlier this year.

The CDC report found that, on average, Americans age 1 and older got 55% of their total calories from ultra-processed foods. For adults, that share was about 53%, but among children and teenagers, it climbed to nearly 62%. Leading contributors included burgers and sandwiches, baked sweets, chips and salty snacks, pizza, and sugary drinks.

The breakdown also showed differences by age and income. Younger children ate less from processed sources than teens, and adults 60 and older consumed fewer ultra-processed calories than younger adults. At the same time, lower-income Americans leaned more heavily on these foods than wealthier households.

Anne Williams, a CDC nutrition researcher and co-author of the report, said the results weren’t particularly surprising. What did stand out, however, was evidence of a modest decline in ultra-processed food intake over the past decade. Among adults, the share dropped from 56% of calories in 2013–2014, while among kids, it slid from nearly 66% in 2017–2018.

Williams said it’s unclear what’s driving the shift, or whether it reflects a meaningful move toward healthier, less processed options.