Eating a hot dog on July Fourth isn\u2019t just traditional. It\u2019s patriotic. <\/p>\n
From iconic red, white, and blue rocket pops (hello, Red Dye 40!) to nitrate-loaded hot dogs and the all-day parade of sugary drinks and alcohol, this quintessential American holiday is a celebration of freedom \u2014 and, often, dietary chaos.<\/p>\n
And yet these days, many of us seem to be having second thoughts about the American diet<\/a>. Our food is too processed, too loaded with dyes and preservatives. The country\u2019s obesity and diabetes epidemics, which have led to an explosion in the diagnoses of related chronic health conditions, have put the issue front and center, with much of the blame being placed on what we eat and all of the additives and preservatives it contains. About half of US adults believe food additives and chemicals are a large or moderate risk to their health \u2014 higher than the perceived risks of infectious disease outbreaks or climate change, according to a recent poll from Ipsos<\/a>, a global market research firm.<\/p>\n We all worry about microplastics<\/a>, nitrates, food dyes, and ultra-processed foods. And US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made improving Americans\u2019 diets and our food supply a top priority<\/a>. It\u2019s a policy emphasis that\u2019s popular with the public: Two-thirds of US adults believe artificial dyes and pesticides make our foods unsafe to eat \u2014 and these are opinions that transcend political leanings, according to Ipsos.<\/p>\n And regardless of our entrenched food system, people are trying to make healthier decisions in their daily lives: 64 percent of US adults say they pay more attention to food labels than they did five years ago, according to the public health nonprofit NSF International<\/a>. But we are frustrated: Only 16 percent of Americans say they find claims on food labels trustworthy. <\/p>\n It may sound unbelievable on a holiday when Americans will gladly stuff their faces with ultra-processed junk while wearing flag-laden paraphernalia, but these days, many of us actually wish the products in our grocery stores looked a little more like the ones across the Atlantic. Just 37 percent of American adults said in the NSF International survey that our food labeling was better than in other countries. Most Americans say<\/a> they want changes to how foods at our grocery stores are labeled. <\/p>\n American food really is different from what can be found in Europe, both in its substance and in its packaging. <\/p>\n But while we\u2019re probably not doing any favors to our health by consuming ultra-processed foods loaded with artificial ingredients that are banned elsewhere, the biggest source of our health woes isn\u2019t necessarily these artificial dyes and preservatives. It\u2019s the cholesterol and saturated fat in that hot dog, the sugar in that lemonade, and those ultra-processed potato chips. Americans consume about twice as much sugar<\/a> as other rich countries do on average, eat more ultra-processed foods<\/a>, and consume more trans and saturated fats<\/a> than Europeans. We also eat enormous portions<\/a>, and calories, no matter where they come from, are a big part of the problem.<\/p>\n Americans are generally in poorer health<\/a> than our peers in Europe, and US life expectancy continues to trail behind other wealthy countries<\/a>. Rich Americans actually fare worse than poor Europeans, according to one study<\/a>. <\/p>\n A new era of American greatness starts at the picnic table this July Fourth. Yes, we ostensibly rebelled against an English monarchy in order to be able to do whatever we want, even eat whatever we want. But if we want to catch up to our European rivals again in how healthy we feel, how productive we are, and how long we live \u2014 we need to take a closer look at the stuff we\u2019re putting in our bodies.<\/p>\n American food really does have different stuff in it<\/p>\n Doctors widely agree<\/a> that ultra-processed foods and food additives are bad for children\u2019s health. Yet they have become more and more readily available over the decades: One 2023 study found<\/a> 60 percent of the food that Americans buy has additives, a 10 percent increase since 2001. <\/p>\n Kennedy, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, the country\u2019s top health agency, has made overhauling US food production a top priority. His department\u2019s recent Make America Healthy Again report highlights steps taken by other countries, including France and the Nordic countries, to discourage people through their dietary guidelines from eating ultra-processed foods. The report lists several additives and artificial ingredients that are permitted in American food but are banned or heavily restricted across the pond. Kennedy suggests that the US should follow suit.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with Red Dye 40, the color additive found in foods such as Froot Loops and M&Ms that has been linked to hyperactivity in children and, according to some animal studies, has been shown to accelerate tumor growth in mice<\/a>. The US has not placed any special requirements on Red Dye 40, aside from its listing alongside other ingredients. But the European Union has required a clear warning label on any food with the dye, and some countries (including Germany, France, and Denmark) have banned it outright. A similar warning could be adopted here.<\/p>\n There are other additives casually lurking in American foods that have been restricted in other countries. Here are a few:<\/p>\n There are some artificial sweeteners, too \u2014 aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin \u2014 that are permitted in the US and the EU, but generally, Europe puts many more restrictions on unhealthy artificial ingredients than the US does.<\/p>\n Kennedy is pledging he\u2019ll do something about it. His biggest win so far is securing voluntary commitments from food manufacturers<\/a> to remove a variety of artificial dyes \u2014 yes, including Red Dye 40<\/a> \u2014 from their products before the end of 2026. If they fail to comply, he has suggested new regulations to put a limit on or outright prohibit certain substances of concern.<\/p>\n But are these ingredients the most important problem with our July Fourth cookouts? They are part of the issue. But there\u2019s more to it.<\/p>\n The real problem is the American diet, dyed or not<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a revealing comparison: In 2018, the United States banned<\/a> trans fats, an artificial ingredient derived from oils that has been linked to heart disease and diabetes \u2014 15 years after Denmark did the same thing<\/a>. For more than a decade, Americans kept eating a ton of trans fat \u2014 something that is so bad for you that it can simultaneously increase bad cholesterol while lowering good cholesterol. <\/p>\n While that is probably not the entire reason that the US has double the obesity and diabetes rates as Denmark does, it is a telling example. A fatty and highly processed ingredient that is linked to two of the biggest health problems in the United States persisted for years in American food, long after the Europeans had wised up.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a pattern that, across the decades, explains the enormous gulf between the typical American\u2019s diet and the Mediterranean diet that dominates much of Europe. During the 20th century, amid an explosion in market-driven consumerism, convenience became one of the most important factors for grocery shoppers. Americans wanted more meals that could be quickly prepared inside the microwave and dry goods that could last for weeks and months on a pantry shelf, and so these products gained more and more of a market share. But that meant that more American food products were laced with more of the preservatives and additives that are now drawing so much concern. <\/p>\n Americans have also always eaten more meat, cheese, and butter, animal products high in saturated fats as opposed to the unsaturated fats that come from oils like olive oil and are more common in European diets, for years. Our meat obsession was turbocharged by a meat industry<\/a> that tapped into patriotic sentiments<\/a> about pioneering farms making their living off the frontier. Eating a diet with more animal products is associated with a long list of health problems<\/a>, particularly the cardiovascular conditions that remain the biggest killers of Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n We should push our policymakers to pass regulations that get rid of artificial additives, but that alone is insufficient. You can find too much fat and too much sugar around the picnic table. Some of it is unnatural, but plenty of it is natural. America has to figure out how to encourage people to eat low-fat, low-sugar, whole-food diets. That\u2019s the real path to better health.<\/p>\n\n