Ultra-processed diet can be healthy: USDA

For years critics have scored points with consumers by pointing out that many alternative meat products fall into an "ultra-processed foods" category.

Lobbyist Rick Berman, then a columnist for our sister publication, Meatingplace, wrote in 2020, "We test-marketed messages in suburban Denver informing consumers that plant-based meat alternatives are ultra-processed foods that aren't healthier than real meat (according to dietitians). In just a few weeks, the target audience who believed…