As discussions around nutrition, food affordability, ultra-processed foods and the Make America Healthy Again movement continue to evolve, IDFA once again worked with Morning Consult to conduct a third wave of consumer research exploring Americans' views on dairy, nutrition policy, affordability and public health.

The findings highlight growing awareness of MAHA, continued confidence in dairy's nutritional value, strong support for food affordability, and consumer preference for considering nutritional value alongside processing.

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Key Findings:

  • MAHA awareness continues to grow and remains generally favorable, particularly relating to its goals related to food and agriculture policy.
  • Food affordability remains a top consumer priority. Americans want policymakers focused on making nutritious foods more affordable and accessible.
  • Consumers want nutritional value to be considered alongside processing. Support for a processing-only UPF definition declines when consumers learn nutrient-dense foods could be grouped alongside candy and snack foods.
  • Perceptions of dairy continue to be very strong. Health and nutrition perceptions of milk and dairy have improved since our earlier research.
  • Consumers support dairy in school meals. Most adults, including parents, support continuing to offer flavored milk, flavored yogurt and cheese in school meals and federal nutrition programs regardless of classification.

The national tracking poll was conducted between July 29-August 2, 2026, among a sample of 2,200 U.S. adults nationwide. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of Adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age, and race by educational attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

IDFA members can download the results of the survey via the links below. If you are an IDFA member and cannot see the links below, please sign in to the website via the red circle in the top right corner of your browser.