TAPP Signs onto Free Market Coalition Letter to OMB on Definition of Ultra-Processed Foods
Along with more than a dozen other organizations, the Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity has signed onto a Free Market Coalition letter to the Trump Administration’s Office of Management and Budget, urging officials to refrain from establishing a federal definition of ultra-processed food (UPF).
In part, the coalition wrote, “A federal UPF definition would be a lucrative gift to the plaintiffs’ bar at the expense of millions of ordinary Americans. It would contradict HHS’s own dietary guidance by dissuading Americans from eating perfectly safe and healthy food. It would also raise grocery prices at a time when affordability is the number one issue for American families... [T]he administration should commit to protecting American families from higher grocery costs, advancing the health and well-being the MAHA agenda was meant to deliver…”
What’s not stated in the letter but also of concern to TAPP: Economic analyses (such as studies from the University of Chicago, An Analysis of the Economic Effects of a Federal Ultra-Processed Food Label) suggest that a formal UPF classification could increase food imports into the U.S. by $7.7 billion to $9.7 billion a year, as domestic agriculture and local manufacturers face new cost burdens or supply adjustments. At the same time, foreign food exporters shipping goods to the U.S. would need to audit, reclassify, and potentially relabel products to comply with U.S. federal benchmarks. Administrative and classification compliance could add hundreds of millions of dollars in industry-wide overhead, which ultimately would be passed onto American grocery consumers.
For all these reasons, the Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity is urging the Trump Administration to refrain from establishing a federal definition of ultra-processed food.