Key Summary
- UPFs are a class of food or drink made using processing techniques, additives and industrial ingredients, and mostly containing little whole foods
- Examples include carbonated soft drinks or instant noodles, processed meats, mass-produced bread, fizzy drinks and some breakfast cereals
- Researchers want governments to start treating food manufacturers like the tobacco industry, and introduce measures such as taxing UPFs and banning advertisements
Ultra-processed foods pose a significant public health threat that must be urgently addressed, according to a new series of papers authored by 43 global experts in The Lancet medical journal.
The scientists, including the Brazilian professor who coined the term with colleagues around 15 years ago, argue that UPFs are now increasingly common worldwide and linked to a decline in diet quality and many diseases, from obesity to cancer.
“It’s about the evidence we have today about … ultra-processed foods and human health,” Carlos Monteiro, professor at the University of Sao Paulo, said at an online briefing on Tuesday. “What we know right now justifies global public action.”
The researchers argue that UPFs are “displacing” fresh foods and meals, as food firms “put profit above all else”.
Processing and politics
UPFs are a class of food or drink made using processing techniques, additives and industrial ingredients, and mostly containing little whole foods.
Examples include carbonated soft drinks or instant noodles, processed meats, mass-produced bread, fizzy drinks and some breakfast cereals.
They make up more than half the typical British diet.
While the term UPF has been widely used in recent years, some scientists and the food industry argue that it is too simplistic, and the debate has become increasingly politicised.
The authors acknowledge criticisms in the Lancet series, saying more evidence is needed, particularly on why and how UPFs cause ill health, as well as on products with different nutritional values within the UPF class.
But they say the signal is already strong enough for governments to take action.
In a systematic review of 104 long-term studies done for the series, 92 reported greater associated risks with one or more chronic diseases linked to UPF dietary patterns, and significant associations for 12 health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and depression.
Most of these studies were only designed to show links, rather than direct causality, which the authors acknowledged.
But they said the situation needed to be addressed while more data was gathered, not least because consumption of UPFs is rising worldwide as a share of the diet.
The proportion of the daily diet made up of UPFs remains below 25 per cent in countries such as Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, and across Asia, but it is 50 per cent in the US and UK, the research said.
They have called for governments around the world to start treating food manufacturers like the tobacco industry, and introduce measures such as taxing UPFs and banning adverts.
Professor Chris van Tulleken, from University College London, one of the authors, told a press briefing that there had been a “three-decade history of reformulation by the food industry”.
He said, “We took the fat out first, then we took the sugar out. We replaced the sugar with the sweeteners, the fats with gums. These products have been extensively reformulated and we have seen obesity, particularly obesity in childhood and other rates of diet-related disease, persistently go up in line with reformulation.
“This is not a product-level discussion. The entire diet is being ultraprocessed. And remember that built into the definition of ultraprocessed food is its purpose. Its purpose is for profit. And so as long as you’re reformulating, if your purpose is still profit, you’re unlikely to cause positive health outcomes.”
The three papers in the series, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, also outline ways to tackle the problem, such as adding UPFs into national policies on foods that are high in fat, sugar or salt. But they cautioned that the UPF industry is the biggest barrier to tackling the issue.
The International Food and Beverage Alliance, an organisation representing major multinational food and beverage companies, said its members also wanted to improve global health outcomes through diet quality, and food companies should be part of policymaking.
“The policy and advocacy recommendations of this series go far beyond the available evidence,” said Secretary-General Rocco Renaldi, arguing there was a risk of reducing the availability of affordable, shelf-stable options globally.
