By John “CZ” Czwartacki, Executive Director of the Informed Patients Project

Informed patients are healthier patients. That’s the principle that guides everything the Informed Patients Project does. And lately, it’s a principle that’s been showing up in a surprising place: the grocery store aisle.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been clear that the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is not about banning food, it is about giving Americans the information to make their own choices. That approach should sound familiar to anyone who knows our mission. It echoes what the Informed Patients Project has been fighting for on behalf of patients across the health care system.

Current food labels aren’t working.

Walk into any grocery store, and you will find packages covered in health claims: “all natural,” “heart healthy,” “made with whole grains,” while the actual ingredient list is often buried in fine print the average shopper can easily ignore. Ultra-processed ingredients, seed oils, artificial dyes, and hidden sugars don’t announce themselves on the front of the box. They don’t have to. The current system doesn’t require it.

We support disclosure, not bans.

The Informed Patients Project is not asking the government to pull food off shelves or tell Americans what they can and cannot eat. What we’re calling for is a level playing field: clear, honest labeling that gives every American the same access to the truth about what they’re eating that well-resourced consumers and food scientists already have. For the patient managing heart disease, diabetes, a gastrointestinal condition or an autoimmune condition, that access is foundational to self-care. Patients who are trying to follow clinician guidance on diet cannot do so if the food system obscures the very information they need.

When families can see what’s in a product at a glance, they are empowered to make a genuine and informed choice. Without that, there is no real choice at all. That is especially true for patients. A 2024 multinational study in The Lancet Regional Health found that higher ultra-processed food consumption significantly raises the risk of ‘multimorbidity,’ the development of multiple chronic conditions at once. The patients at greatest risk are often the ones least equipped to decode a label designed to obscure rather than inform. Clearer labeling is not just a consumer issue. It is a patient safety issue.

The path forward: inform, don’t dictate.

A federal definition of “ultra-processed foods” is in development, which would give regulators and consumers a shared language for the first time. That kind of clear, standardized vocabulary is a meaningful step forward. What matters is that labels tell people what is actually in their food; the goal should be transparency.

The Informed Patients Project wants to see labeling that is meaningful, standardized, and accessible – not vague health halos, but clear signals shoppers can actually use at the point of purchase.