brief overview
AI Overview New research has found that ultra-processed foods are linked to a growing number of chronic and mental illnesses worldwide. Researchers reviewed 104 studies and found 92 reported links between ultra-processed diets and increased health risks. The study calls for coordinated policies to regulate ultra-processed foods and improve access to fresh options.
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look summary
Rising consumption of ultra-processed foods such as breakfast cereals, yogurt, soda, cookies and even infant formula is fueling an increase in chronic diseases, including mental illness, around the world, according to a global team of public health experts.
The warning was published in a three-part series published in The Lancet under the title ‘Ultra-processed foods and human health’.
“This rise in ultra-processed foods is being driven by powerful global corporations who employ sophisticated political tactics to protect and maximize their profits. Relying on education and individual behavior change is not enough,” the researchers warned in their study summary statement. “Poor dietary habits are an urgent public health threat and require coordinated policies and advocacy to regulate and reduce ultra-processed foods and improve access to fresh and minimally processed foods.”
Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, are described as “branded commercial formulations that contain little or no natural foods and are made from inexpensive ingredients.”
This food group includes all carbonated drinks. Reconstituted fruit juices and fruit drinks. Cocoa, other processed milk drinks, margarine. Salting meat and fish with added nitrites or nitrates. Chicken and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, hot dogs, luncheon meats and other reconstituted meat products. Powdered instant soups, noodles, and desserts. Infant formula and follow-on products. Health and weight loss products such as meal replacement shakes and powders also fall under the UPF category, the study explains.
In “Ultra-processed foods and human health: key papers and evidence,” researchers found a strong relationship between UPF intake and a range of chronic diseases, including mental illness.
Of the 104 studies examined, the researchers found that 92 reported an association between exposure to ultra-processed dietary patterns and an increased risk of one or more chronic diseases. These chronic disease outcomes include “all-cause mortality, cancer-related, cardiovascular-related, or cerebrovascular-related morbidity and mortality, gastrointestinal, respiratory, renal, liver, gallbladder, joint, metabolic, and psychiatric disorders,” the researchers noted. Approximately 78 of these 92 studies highlighted a “statistically significant linear trend” between UPF intake and increased risk of developing chronic disease.
The researchers also analyzed the food intake of people in 36 countries through a study and found that globally, the average intake of UPF ranges from 9% in Iran to 60% in the United States. It was also found that UPF consumption is correlated with a country’s wealth, culture, and other factors in different food systems.
In high-income southern European countries such as Italy, Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal, as well as Taiwan and South Korea, UPF consumption is less than 25%. However, in Australia and Canada, UPF intake exceeds 40%, and in other high-income countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, it exceeds 50%.
Researchers note that in wealthy countries where UPF consumption is high, low-income groups typically account for the majority of that consumption. However, in low-income countries, it is usually the higher-income group that consumes more UPF.
“Within countries, groups with higher socio-economic status tend to have lower overall intakes of UPF, and groups with lower socio-economic status have higher overall intakes of UPF, so the proportion of UPF in their diets tends to be higher,” the researchers explain. “This pattern reflects the socio-economic distribution of obesity and shows that UPF, like obesity, first affects wealthy people before spreading to lower-income groups.”
In response to the public health experts’ findings, The Lancet magazine in an editorial named a “handful” of manufacturers (Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever and Coca-Cola) and accused them of obstructing UPF regulations.
“The UPF industry generates huge revenues that support continued growth and fund corporate political campaigns against attempts to regulate UPF. A small number of manufacturers, including Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever and Coca-Cola, dominate the market,” the Lancet said.
“Reversing the rise in UPF consumption requires a comprehensive, government-led approach. Priority measures include adding ultra-processed markers such as color, flavor, and non-sugar sweeteners to nutrient profiling models used to identify unhealthy foods, requiring front-of-pack warning labels, banning marketing to children, restricting these types of foods in public institutions, and increasing taxes on UPF,” the magazine continues.
It was also noted that the rise of the UPF industry is a sign of the extent to which multinational corporations control the global food system, and that addressing this requires action from both governments and civil society.
“To transform the food system, following the recommendations of the EAT-Lancet Commission, agricultural subsidies need to be redirected away from large multinational corporations. Instead, diverse food producers should be supported by creating locally produced, affordable, minimally processed foods and meals that are convenient and attractive to consumers,” the magazine said. “Taxing the UPF could help fund cash transfers for whole foods and other minimally processed foods to protect low-income households.”
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