Scientists in the United States have found a new way to check how much ultraprocessed food people eat. The study was shared in PLOS Medicine in May 2025. Ultraprocessed foods include sweet cereals, soft drinks, chips, and frozen meals. These foods are made in factories and have ingredients not used at home. They make up almost 60% of what many Americans eat. Experts say they can cause health problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The scientists looked at data from over 1,000 older adults. More than 700 of them gave blood and urine samples and wrote down what they ate. The scientists found many small substances in the samples. These are made when the body digests food. From this, the team made a scoring system. It checks for 28 markers in the blood and 33 in the urine. In 2019, they tested the system with 20 adults. These people ate both healthy and processed meals. The test results matched the food they ate. Experts say this method is a better way to study food habits. Scientists will use it to learn how processed foods may cause diseases like cancer.