Ultra-processed food (UPF) is the leading cause of the “pandemic of diet-related chronic diseases,” with food companies putting profit above everything else, experts warn.
At its core, the industry includes UPF manufacturers but also a wider network of interdependent actors who collectively drive the production, marketing, and consumption of these foods.
In an article published in the medical journal The Lancet, 43 scientists and researchers joined forces to determine whether UPF is “replacing” fresh food and meals. Their conclusion: Ultra processed foods worsen diet quality and is linked to multiple chronic diseases, including obesity, heart disease, cancer, and premature death.
“The key driver of UPF growth worldwide is the increasing economic and political power of the UPF industry and its restructuring of food systems to prioritize profitability above all,” the article states.
Examples of UPF include ice cream, processed meats, chips, mass-produced bread, certain breakfast cereals, biscuits, many ready-made meals, and soft drinks. UPF often contains high levels of saturated fats, salt, sugar, and chemical additives, and experts say all of this leaves less room for fresh food in people’s diets.
Millions of people are increasingly consuming products such as ready-made meals, cereals, protein bars, soft drinks, and fast food.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, more than half of the average diet consists of UPF products, and for some—especially younger and poorer individuals—UPF makes up as much as 80 percent of their diet. A review of 104 long-term studies showed that 92 of them recorded an increased risk of chronic diseases and premature death among people who consume ultra processed foods.
Although some countries have adopted rules to regulate food and control ultra processed foods, “the global public-health response is still in its infancy, similar to where the tobacco-control movement was several decades ago,” the scientists believe.
According to them, government policy—including in high-income countries—has done little to change the “commercial and structural determinants of the problem,” instead focusing on consumer responsibility, industry partnerships, and voluntary self-regulation by companies, such as replacing sugar with sweeteners in certain products or reducing fat content.
“This political inertia reflects the coordinated efforts of industry to distort decision-making, steer political debates in their favor, and create an impression of doubt around the science,” researchers state.
The share of ultra processed foods in diets remains below 25 percent in countries such as Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, and across much of Asia, but in the U.S. that figure is 50 percent, with similar levels in the United Kingdom, according to the research.
However, experts say that “this continued rise of UPF in human diets is not inevitable,” and although research on its impact continues, this should not delay policies aimed at promoting whole-food-based nutrition.
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