{
  "id": 421539,
  "title": "Human biology is ill-equipped for ultraprocessed foods, former FDA head says",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/09/human-biology-is-ill-equipped-for-ultraprocessed-foods-former-fda",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-09T23:00:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CBS News",
    "slug": "cbs-news",
    "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ultraprocessed-foods-rfk-jr-and-david-kessler-60-minutes-transcript-2026-08-09/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In recent years, growing numbers of Americans, from various political backgrounds, have raised concerns about the health impacts of ultraprocessed foods. These are ready-to-eat, boxed and wrapped items that line grocery store shelves. Two men who typically hold opposing views on public health – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. David Kessler, the former FDA commissioner – have found common ground in blaming a 67-year-old government classification for the prevalence of these harmful foods. This classification, known as GRAS (generally recognized as safe), has enabled food companies to introduce a vast array of ingredients into the market without rigorous government safety review.\n\nDr. David Kessler, who previously led the fight against the tobacco industry, now aims to do the same with the food industry. He argues that our biology is not designed to handle energy-dense, highly palatable, and rapidly absorbable ultraprocessed foods, which have caused a surge in chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart attacks. According to Kessler, the scale of this public health crisis is as large as, if not larger than, that of tobacco.\n\nKessler's petition to revoke the GRAS status for certain processed refined carbohydrates, such as corn syrup and maltodextrin, is currently under consideration by the FDA. He believes that these ingredients, often found on packaged food labels, are fueling obesity and resulting in malnutrition despite making individuals obese. The FDA's oversight on GRAS ingredients has been questioned due to the lack of knowledge about the number of such ingredients in the American food supply and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s own history of vaccine skepticism.",
  "summary": "There are Americans who are \"obscenely obese and at the same time malnourished,\" Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says. He blames ultraprocessed food.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}