Very excited to announce our paper on corporate vectors of chronic disease - and what can be done about it - published in NEJM! Congrats to all our authors including @nickchartres.bsky.social @feralyogi.bsky.social @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social @traceywoodruff.bsky.social DOI: 10.1056/NEJMms2507028
Laura A. Schmidt PhD
@drlauraschmidt.bsky.social
I lead the UCSF Food Policy Lab, where we study ultraprocessed foods as a 21st-century vector of chronic disease. I'm new to Bluesky--please follow!
Just a few commercial products, including tobacco, alcohol and #ultraprocessedfoods, account for a very large proportion of deaths globally. Read our piece on how researchers can study health-harming corporations just like other vectors for disease, to protect health. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Corporate Vectors of Chronic Disease — Using Internal Industry Documents to Craft Counterstrategies | NEJM
Corporations that make and market health-harming products are a primary vector for the global increase in mortality related to noncommunicable diseases. Research using internal industry documents c...
nejm.org
What might the future hold for the 22 states that have removed soda and ultra-processed foods from their SNAP (food stamps) programs? Here's what the research says to expect. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Removing Unhealthy Foods From SNAP
This Viewpoint summarizes arguments for and against the Make America Healthy Again strategy calling for the restriction of unhealthy foods from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); su...
jamanetwork.com
Out today in @jama.com : @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social and I weigh the merits of nutritional SNAP restrictions. While we didn't agree on restriction overall, we were united in our concern about broader changes to SNAP that will undermine the program. 🛟 🥗 🩺
💬 Viewpoint: While restricting ultraprocessed foods from #SNAP may curb chronic disease and generate taxpayer savings, concerns persist about increased stigma, reduced food access, and impacts on poverty alleviation. ja.ma/4ccjrl5
Have you received a letter from "Dr. B.S."? One scientist decided to investigate and what he found may shed light on another form of corporate influence. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/s...
The Editor Got a Letter From ‘Dr. B.S.’ So Did a Lot of Other Editors.
nytimes.com
As I told the @nytimes.com, "it's not inevitable." It's not inevitable that ultraprocessed food (UPF) companies must dominate our food supply, harming our health. We simply apply our existing tobacco control regulations to UPF. We have the tools to fix this. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/w...
Scientists Call for Global Shift Away From Ultraprocessed Foods
nytimes.com
“By keeping the focus on individual responsibility,” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write, the food and weight-loss industries “have created an atmosphere where policymakers have failed to implement even basic evidence-based obesity-prevention policies.”
Next step: Direct studies of the mechanisms. Is it the lack of fiber, a larger dose of sugar, slow transit time or chemical additives that make liquid sugar worse for health?
Evidence mounts that liquid sugars are worse than non-liquid sugars, according to research by BYU's Karen Della Corte. Article by Brian Marstroianni quotes @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social www.health.com/drinking-sug...
While ultraprocessed food companies pursue profits at the cost of making populations obese, pharmaceutical companies pursue profits with drugs promising to make the same people thin. Why not make money off both sides of the world's obesity crisis?
“When people do not eat healthfully, several industries profit—food, drug, and diet, for starters. Eating healthfully means taking on all of them.” @marionnestle.bsky.social responds to @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars’s essay on #GLP-1 drugs: issues.org/dysfunctiona...
I found the study discussed here to be quite compelling, with large samples from different regions of the world. The next step is to sort out why liquid sugar is worse for health: No fiber? Too easy to overconsume? Short transit time in the gut? Or all of the above?
Evidence mounts that liquid sugars are worse than non-liquid sugars, according to research by BYU's Karen Della Corte. Article by Brian Marstroianni quotes @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social www.health.com/drinking-sug...
As more people experience an end to craving and "food noise" from taking GLP-1s, we may see a greater willingness to accept that #ultraprocessedfoods are addictive, like alcohol and tobacco.
New GLP-1 drugs have the potential to change “the persistent, widespread cultural assumption that obesity is a problem of individuals rather than a societal problem of the food system.” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write: issues.org/ozempic-era-...
New GLP-1 drugs have the potential to change “the persistent, widespread cultural assumption that obesity is a problem of individuals rather than a societal problem of the food system.” @drlauraschmidt.bsky.social & Luc Hagenaars write: issues.org/ozempic-era-...
The Ozempic Era Could Shift Blame for Obesity From Individuals to Commercial Food Systems
A new class of medications that people are taking to control their weight could help change how we think about obesity.
issues.org
Excellent speech by @traceywoodruff.bsky.social If the administration is serious about making America healthy they need to fund environmental research. It is science fiction to think that you can cut 55% of EPA’s budget and expect people’s health to improve. www.youtube.com/live/3l-bOsI...
Toxic Priorities: How Trump’s EPA Puts Polluters Over People
YouTube video by Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
youtube.com
Now we know that if a study is funded by the meat industry, it is 4 times more likely to conclude that red meat has positive or benign effects on cardiovascular disease risk. NIH should fund nutrition scientists so they can stop working for the food industry. ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S000...
Industry study sponsorship and conflicts of interest on the effect of unprocessed red meat on cardiovascular disease risk: a systematic review of clinical trials
Experimental research on the link between unprocessed red meat and cardiovascular disease risk is inconsistent and may differ according to the financial interests of red meat industry sponsors.
ajcn.nutrition.org
Please join me for this free, online webinar. I will be sharing new results from my research using the @ucsf-industrydocs.bsky.social library on the tobacco industry's role in developing #ultraprocessedfoods. May 22, 2025 9am - 10am PT | 12pm - 1pm ET Zoom (virtual event) lnkd.in/eEY-4PWF
I encourage everyone to join me at the UCSF Global Oral Health Symposium, held for free and online. I will be speaking about recent developments in the #sodatax debate and this recent publication in @jama.com: lnkd.in/gd2_Z5bU. @ahascience.bsky.social @americanheart.bsky.social
Read my new piece in @jama.com on how Coca-Cola and Pepsi plan to sue the small City of San Cruz because voters had the audacity to pass a #sodatax to pay for health initiatives. Courageous officials in this small city are preparing to stand up to the corporate bully. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The Changing Landscape of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes
This Viewpoint discusses how sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in small US cities have provided an example for how to enact such policy changes elsewhere, which could help improve population health.
jamanetwork.com
Read my new piece on how GLP-1 agonist medications could fundamentally shift the scientific paradigm for obesity to more closely align with models of tobacco and alcohol addiction, written for the @nationalacademies.org @issuesinst.bsky.social #obesity #ozempic #addiction issues.org/ozempic-era-...
The Ozempic Era Could Shift Blame for Obesity From Individuals to Commercial Food Systems
A new class of medications that people are taking to control their weight could help change how we think about obesity.
issues.org
Looking forward to this free webinar on what's going on with #ultraprocessedfoods in California.
Are ultra-processed foods the new tobacco? Join Dr. Laura Schmidt from UCSF & Jessie Gouck from the CA Dept of Public Health on May 5 at 12p PT for a free webinar where they discuss the health impacts and science of ultra-processed foods: berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Thanks to @jaketapper.bsky.social for inviting me on his show yesterday! www.cnn.com/2025/04/17/h...
Top researcher quits NIH, citing censorship under RFK Jr. | CNN
Dr. Kevin Hall joins The Lead
cnn.com
The New Tobacco? A Discussion about Ultra-Processed Foods Mon 5/5 at 12pm You are welcome to join a free online webinar hosted by @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social on Monday, May 5 at 12p PT. Gain insight into #processedfoods as the new tobacco. Register today: lnkd.in/gcQ6-GwR #foodpolicy #obesity
My lab is in mourning today about Kevin Hall's early retirement from NIH. As an addiction scientist, it especially troubles me to hear that he felt forced to adhere to preconceived ideas about food addiction. That just isn't how science is done. edition.cnn.com/2025/04/16/h...
Top NIH nutrition researcher studying ultraprocessed foods departs, citing censorship under Kennedy | CNN
When President Donald Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his choice to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services, one group of health researchers was cautiously optimistic that their cause...
edition.cnn.com
This is another big loss at NIH. He explains why in the thread below. Our recent conversation about what we should eat erictopol.substack.com/p/kevin-hall...
Kevin Hall: What Should We Eat?
Listen now (48 mins) | Insights from the research by a leading scientist in nutrition and metabolism
erictopol.substack.com
After 21 years at my dream job, I’m very sad to announce my early retirement from the National Institutes of Health. My life’s work has been to scientifically study how our food environment affects what we eat, and how what we eat affects our physiology.
I encourage everyone to read Murray Carpenter's new book on Coca-Cola's disinformation campaign to muddle nutrition science. He tells my story of the San Francisco soda tax. He will be reading from his book at the Ferry Building this Sunday at 2. @murray-journo.bsky.social new @mitpress.bsky.social
New paper - Medicaid "unwinding" associated with net decrease in buprenorphine prescribing for opioid use disorder (some offset from commercial insurance). Some state policies mitigated this negative impact. Hats off to @drsumedhagupta.bsky.social for this work! jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Trends in Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
This cross-sectional study examines the association between Medicaid unwinding and dispensing of prescription buprenorphine, overall and by payment sources nationally and by state.
jamanetwork.com
This wonderful profile of Marion Nestle at @newyorkuniversity.bsky.social by @nytimes.com captures her boundless energy and practical approach nutrition through an omnivorous whole foods diet. Worth a read! www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/w...
The Nutritionist Marion Nestle Meets Her Moment, At 88
After five decades in the field of nutrition, Dr. Marion Nestle thought she had seen it all. Then came “Make America Healthy Again.”
nytimes.com
When you destroy fiber, it can't act on your behalf. Consider apple versus apple sauce versus apple juice: youtu.be/00CYtZ366do?...
Robert Lustig: Apple Juice Spikes Glucose Fastest, Apple Puree Next, but Whole Apple is the Safest
YouTube video by Emery Pharma
youtu.be
It's Document Drop Day! 🎉 We added over 220K new Teva and Allergan documents and 200K Juul Labs documents to the IDL today. Read more about the new documents and get the latest education and research updates in our monthly newsletter: conta.cc/3RmmUSa #industrydocuments #library
March 2025 Updates - Over 400K new documents added!
Email from UCSF Industry Documents Library Collection Updates Opioid Industry Documents Archive Teva and Allergan Documents OIDA staff added over 220,000 documents to the Teva and Allergan
conta.cc
🚨 Researching Juul Labs & the North Carolina settlement? UNC Libraries has you covered! Their research guide dives into the #Juul Labs Collection’s origins, industry practices, public health impacts, and more. Check it out: guides.lib.unc.edu/juul #PublicHealth #Research @unclibrary.bsky.social
LibGuides: Juul Labs Documents Collection for North Carolina: Home
This guide provides searching assistance and key information for the NC JUUL documents database.
guides.lib.unc.edu