Decades ago, "calories" was the buzzword among people concerned about food and health. Later, carbs, saturated fats, sugar and sodium took turns playing buzzword.

Past buzzwords tend to hang around. They're all prominent in the government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025.

But the 2025-2030 version scheduled for release early this year is likely to feature a new buzzword: ultra-processed. Though debates linger about which foods fall into the ultra-processed category, the new guidelines will likely warn against excessive consumption of them.

The distance from field to fork is sufficiently long that many farmers will be tempted to ignore changes in the guidelines. After all, it's not what they grow that's responsible for the nation's problems with obesity, diabetes and heart disease. It's what the food industry does with what they grow.

Still, far-sighted farmers will want to stay abreast of changes in society's concerns about the healthiness of foods. These changes can, over time, lead to changes in diet that affect what industry asks farmers to grow.

Why are ultra-processed foods deemed harmful? Processing isn't inherently bad. Ground beef is processed -- it's ground -- but unless a preservative is added, it's still just beef.

Processing has benefits, like extra nutrients, longer shelf life and convenience. It can even enhance safety. Think pasteurization.

Ultra-processed implies too much processing, but why is that a problem? One attempt at a concise answer says it's the added ingredients -- preservatives, colorings and other chemicals. But unless you believe any dose level of any synthetic chemical is automatically bad, this response begs the question of why they're bad.

Another attempt at a concise answer is that ultra-processing makes foods "calorie dense" and "hyper-palatable," or easy to overeat. Four ounces of a frozen pizza will contain many more calories than four ounces of broccoli. You're more likely to eat too much pizza than too much broccoli.

Not all ultra-processed foods are calorie-dense, however. Diet sodas aren't, but they're considered ultra-processed.

You can understand why regular sodas are deemed ultra-processed. They typically pack nine or 10 teaspoons of sugar into a 12-ounce can. You can also understand why they're held to be bad and it's not just the chemicals. They offer zero nutrition; low nutritional value is another characteristic of many ultra-processed foods.

Why are diet sodas ultra-processed? They likewise lack nutrients. They are industrially made and are full of chemicals. The reason they're considered bad is their intensely sweet artificial sweeteners can trick the brain into cravings for sugary sweets.

Unlike sodas, lab-produced meat substitutes like the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger are highly nutritious, but many experts consider them ultra-processed. That's mainly because they're industrially produced and include synthetic chemicals. The Impossible Burger's meat-like sizzle is created using a genetically engineered yeast.

For its part, Impossible Foods said its products are "unapologetically processed" but not ultra-processed. (https://impossiblefoods.com/…) The company defines ultra-processed foods as those having high levels of fat, salt and sugar and low levels of micronutrients, fiber and protein. Impossible said its products don't meet that definition because they have lots of the good things and few of the bad.

Concerns about processing are already being reflected in diets. Take bacon, for example. For a few decades there, America was experiencing a bacon boom. Even as demand for beef and other red meats declined or flattened, bacon moved "beyond breakfast" and into what seemed like every fast-food sandwich in the country.

In the last few years, though, some Americans have been scaling back on bacon. Experts classify it as processed, not ultra-processed. But fears have arisen about the sodium and nitrates in processed meats. Bacon is still ubiquitous, but it's no longer booming.

The 2023-2025 guidelines could recommend some interesting dietary changes. Milk is a likely candidate. To reduce calories and saturated fats, the guidelines have long recommended fat-free or low-fat milk and dairy products. Whole milk, though, is less processed, and could well get the new guidelines' blessing.

High-fructose corn syrup isn't likely to be classified as ultra-processed, but some experts say its presence in a food is a signal that the food is ultra-processed. Corn growers will be watching to see if the new guidelines agree.

By most definitions, some of Americans' favorite foods are ultra-processed. Look no further than French fries and potato chips. They're industrially made using ingredients not found in home cooking. They're calorie dense. They're "hyper-palatable" in the extreme.

Americans aren't going to give up French fries and potato chips, you say. Yes, but they may indulge in them less often if they keep hearing ultra-processed foods are bad for their health.

Some buzzwords have that power. This one is worth watching.

Urban Lehner can be reached at urbanize@gmail.com

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