Chips, candy and soda all get a pass on Wednesday, July 21, 2027, National Junk Food Day. The phrase “junk food” is older than most people guess.
The Date for National Junk Food Day
July 21, every year. No agency ever made it official.
Who Really Coined “Junk Food”
The day’s founder is unknown. Credit for the term usually goes to Michael Jacobson, who directed the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972.
Word sleuth Barry Popik found it in print decades earlier. One unclear use turned up in a 1927 magazine story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
By 1940, the meaning was taking shape. Beryl Wallace, a performer in Earl Carroll’s Vanities, told the San Francisco Examiner, “I don’t go in for eating ‘junk’ food.”
A doctor’s crusade
Health columnist Dr. William Brady was using the term by 1948, in a column printed in Utah’s Ogden Standard-Examiner. That piece called it “cheat food,” meaning items made mostly of white flour or refined sugar. In 1952, a headline on his column warned that “Candy, Cake, ‘Junk Foods’ Cause Serious Malnutrition.”
Brady’s column had started in 1914 and ran until his death in 1972. Popik suspects it did the most to spread the phrase.
Others joined in. In 1951, Marjorie Gill, chief dietitian at Seattle’s Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, came out against “junk food” such as potato chips, soda pop and candy bars. A 1953 Boston Traveler story told dieters to “eliminate the junk.”
More uses followed in the 1960s. In 1960, nutritionist Carlton Fredericks urged families to drop “practically all of the junk foods (soda pop, cookies, etc.).” He wanted the savings spent on better food. By 1967, a Washington Post writer was describing “greasy junk food found at a local ballpark or carnival.”
Food critic Gael Greene used the words in New York magazine in 1971 and 1972. She believed she had coined them.
Dictionaries still disagree. Merriam-Webster dates the term to 1960. The Oxford English Dictionary gives its earliest example from a 1973 Washington Post line:
“How many children are going to fill up on junk foods and be too full to eat a nutritious lunch now?”
What the CDC Data Shows
No official definition of junk food exists. The CDC tracks a close cousin instead: ultra-processed foods.
From August 2021 to August 2023, those foods supplied 55% of calories for Americans 1 and older. Youth got 61.9% of their calories that way, compared with 53% for adults.
Adults eat less of it as they age. The share was 54.4% for ages 19 to 39 and 51.7% for those 60 and older.
Sandwiches, including burgers, top the adult list at 8.6%. Sweet bakery goods follow at 5.2%.
Intake is easing a little. Youth intake has fallen from 65.6% in 2017–2018, while adults dipped from 56%.
Treat Yourself, Then Balance It
- Pick your single favorite treat and eat it slowly.
- Split a dessert or a bag of chips with a friend.
- Make fries or stovetop popcorn at home so you choose the ingredients.
- Compare the nutrition labels on two snacks you buy often.
- Follow it with a walk or a plate of vegetables.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which age group eats the most ultra-processed food?
Children ages 6 to 11, at 64.8% of calories.
Does income make a difference?
Somewhat. The highest-income adults got 50.4% of calories from these foods, below other adults.
What are kids’ top sources?
Sandwiches and burgers lead at 7.6%, then sweet baked goods at 6.3% and savory snacks at 4.9%.
What did “junk food” mean in 1935?
Salvaged food. A San Francisco Chronicle item that year used it in that sense.