Chef Andrew Zimmern calls new Ozempic-friendly meals ‘about as messed up as it gets’

Chef and TV personality Andrew Zimmern has harsh words for a new kind of food set to hit stores.

On May 21, TMZ caught up with the restaurateur at Los Angeles International Airport where he talked about a hot-button topic: how the rise in weight loss drugs might affect how people eat. Later, he spoke to TODAY.com about an issue he feels strongly about.

During TMZ’s stand up interview, field reporter Charlie Cotton asked Zimmern what he thought the impact of weight loss drugs on the food industry as a whole might be. While the face of “Andrew Zimmern’s Spilled Milk” newsletter said he loves the idea of these medicines helping people, especially “for those in an obese category or if they have comorbidities,” he did not mince words about some users of the drugs.

“There is something a little messed up about people buying $200 — $300 injectables and jamming them into their stomach just to look better,” Zimmern said in the clip after talking about the high costs associated with fighting “processed-food-related diseases.”

Zimmern then spoke on what he calls the irony of “some big processed food companies” coming out with foods meant to be eaten alongside weight loss drugs.

“I think the really sad truth is we’re gonna have more processed food that costs $5 or less to go with your very expensive injectable,” he said. “I also think linking a drug like Ozempic with a food line is about as messed up as it gets.”

Zimmern tells TODAY.com he sees the emergence of weight-loss-drug-friendly meals is reminiscent of more than one bygone food trend.

“Like so many weight loss food fads of the past, it is a marketing scheme, a repackaging of goods, a baiting exercise,” Zimmern tells TODAY.com. “Dieting properly is hard, so anytime a new dieting program comes out (this one is simply a drug-induced version) we see millions of Americans embrace it because of the promise it holds.”

He thinks companies selling these new meal lines “aren’t selling food as much as they are selling outcomes — a dream, a promise,” which he stressed is good marketing, but not good health practice. “They are piggybacking on a medical need,” he says.

“Some may say, ‘why is that bad?’ Well, it wouldn’t be if a food companion for Ozempic didn’t already exist,” the chef continues via email. “And for me, because we are talking about human beings’ desperate hail marys to lose the pounds, I find it borderline distasteful.”

Zimmern says since there’s already low-cost frozen meals on the market that are high in protein and low in both carbs and sugars, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. “This is a marketing pitch,” he says.

The famous chef’s thoughts on the new food category come on the heels of Nestlé’s May 21 announcement of its new food line, Vital Pursuit, which the brand says is “intended to be a companion for GLP-1 weight loss medication users” as well as customers focused on weight management in the U.S.

The brand says the product line will include a “variety of frozen formats such as bowls with whole grains or protein pasta, sandwich melts, and pizzas,” which all will sell “for a suggested retail price of $4.99 and under.”

Representatives for Nestlé did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.

Toward the end of the interview, Zimmern said he thinks instead of turning to quick fixes, we should be “taking care of our bodies” by way of eating, sleeping, exercising and more.

“It really is that simple,” he said.

Zimmern’s comments come as weight loss drugs enjoy a boom in popularity, even as users report anecdotal side effects like changes in mood, facial differences and surprise pregnancies.

Still, celebrities and everyday people alike have lauded the surge of weight-loss drugs. Oprah Winfrey even hosted a prime-time special, about it called “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.”

And, when asked if he thinks we’ll see more meals like Nestle’s or if it’s yet another dieting trend with an expiration date, Zimmern firmly believes it’s the latter — “People will realize the product doesn’t fill a void.”

“It’s a repackaged idea,” he says, pointing to the frozen aisle filled with options from Lean Cuisine, Atkins, Healthy Choice and more.

He points out that people in America have spent over a trillion dollars a year fighting processed-food-related diseases, so he doesn’t think trying to solve the problem with more processed food makes sense.

“We are a culture that wants everything fast and easy so I get it, Ozempic plus ‘healthy’ processed foods equals solution,” he says. “I just don’t see that being sustainable as a health solution. I hope I am wrong. And I reserve the final word for when I see the products roll out.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com