Letter to the NYT Editor: “What’s in your Food?”
In response to 纽约时报 article by Jancee Dunn "What's In Your Food?"
Dear Editor,
Your title says it all—do we really know what’s in our food? For decades, fearmongers have raised alarms about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) without providing clear definitions or solutions. The Brazil NOVA system, for example, classifies roughly 85% of the American diet as UPF—an unhelpful approach unless we expect Americans to stop eating altogether.
With about 2 million terms listed as ingredients on Nutrition Facts Panels, even a PhD would struggle to distinguish good ingredients from harmful ones. And as you noted, not all processing is bad. But how do we determine what’s acceptable and what’s not?
After a decade of research to create the world’s most comprehensive nutrition database, WISEcode launched an app last month to reveal the level of processing in packaged foods. Here’s a sneak peek: about 20% of foods are classified as Super-Ultra Processed, with another 10% falling into the UPF category.
The app also includes 12 additional codes to assess ingredient quality, covering everything from seed oils and hidden harmful ingredients to clean labels and even a MAHA code inspired by RFK’s priorities.
Is “cutting back” the solution?? We are tired of the Big Food giving us bad ingredients, full of addictive and bad calories. When society has an obesity and chronic disease problems then it is “our fault” and we should “cut back”.??
Enough is enough! It's time for Big Food to improve our food. How? The People’s Vote is coming soon to WISEcode—let’s give the people a voice!
Peter Castleman
Founder WISEcode