Answer:
There are many manufactured ingredients found in processed food, but these three are at or near the top of the list in terms of quantity:
- Sugar
- High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- Flour
Here are the numbers:
The average American consumes almost 152 pounds of sugar in one year. 1
In 2019, the average American consumes about 37 pounds of HFCS. 2
In 2021, the average US resident consumes about 130 pounds of flour. 3
The winner is sugar. If you want to know who the loser is, here’s something to think about: Americans on average consume a total of 320 pounds of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and flour every year, which is pretty close to a pound a day. And excess amounts of these particular ingredients are stored in the body as fat.
