From big bowls of salad to platters of meatballs and spaghetti sauce, Srisatta noshed his way through a nutrition study aimed at understanding the health effects of ultraprocessed foods, the controversial fare that now accounts for more than 70% of the U.S. food supply. He allowed The Associated Press to tag along for a day.

In some parts of Europe, ultra-processed foods make up a large and growing part of people’s diets to the detriment of their health. View on euronews

The study relies on 24/7 measurements of patients to investigate whether ultra-processed foods cause people to eat more calories and gain weight, potentially leading to obesity and other well-documented health problems.