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Accepted manuscript

Eighty-five Percent of Menu Items from the Six Highest Selling Fast-food Restaurants in the United States are Ultra-processed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2025

Anthony J. Basile Open the ORCID record for Anthony J. Basile [Opens in a new window] ,
Nereus K. Noshirwani  and
Karen L. Sweazea
Anthony J. Basile
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Department of Human Ecology, State University of New York at Oneonta, NY, USA
Nereus K. Noshirwani
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Karen L. Sweazea*
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA
*
Corresponding Author: Karen L. Sweazea; LSE 421 427 E. Tyler Mall, Tempe Arizona, USA 85287-4501, United States; karen.sweazea@asu.edu
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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Objective:

While fast-food is typically considered highly processed, an analysis to demonstrate this has yet to be conducted. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the menu items and ingredients from six fast-food restaurant menus using the NOVA Classification.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Setting:

Data were collected from the top six highest selling United States restaurants, per each food category, identified using the Quick Service and Fast Casual Restaurants (QSR) 2020 Report.

Participants:

A total of 740 menu items were identified and classified according to their degree of processing based on ingredient lists using the NOVA Classification: Minimally Processed (MPF), Culinary Processed Ingredient (CPF), Processed (PRF), or Ultra-processed (UPF). In addition, individual ingredients that appeared on at least three menus were classified into NOVA groups, and the 20 most common ingredients were identified based on frequency of appearance in ingredient lists.

Results:

Across all menus, 85% (Range: 70-94%) of items were UPFs with only 11% (Range: 6-25%) being MPF (p<0.001). Additionally, 46% of the ingredients that appeared on at least three menus were ultra-processed ingredients. Three ultra-processed ingredients appeared on all six menus: natural flavors, xanthan gum, and citric acid.

Conclusions:

These findings show that the vast majority of menu items from major fast-food restaurants are UPFs and there are few options for MPFs. Fast-food companies should consider reformulation or the addition of MPF to the menu to increase healthful food options for their patrons.

Keywords

Ultra-processed foodsFast-foodrestaurantquick-servicefood processing
Type
Short Communication
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 15
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society