Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are a leading cause of a “chronic disease pandemic” linked to worsening diets, experts have warned.
UPFs include items such as processed meats, some ready meals and cereals, ice cream, crisps, biscuits, mass-produced bread and fizzy drinks.
They often contain a high level of saturated fat, salt and sugar – as well as additives such as sweeteners and preservatives.
UPFs leave less room for more nutritious foods and are also believed to negatively affect gut health.
Forty-three scientists and researchers have now sounded the alarm and accused food companies of putting “profitability above all else”.
Writing in The Lancet, they said the firms’ economic and political power is growing and “the global public health response is still nascent, akin to where the tobacco control movement was decades ago”.
They warned that while some countries have brought in controls on UPFs, policy is lagging due to “co-ordinated efforts of the industry to skew decision-making, frame policy debates in their interest, and manufacture the appearance of scientific doubt”.
Professor Chris Van Tulleken, from University College London, one of the authors, said obesity and diet-related disease had increased in line with a “three-decade history of reformulation by the food industry”.
“This is not a product level discussion. The entire diet is being ultra-processed,” he warned.
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However, several experts not involved with the article urged more research, cautioning that existing studies had shown a link with poor health and UPFs but not established causation.
Kate Halliwell, chief scientific officer at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents the industry, said companies had made a “series of changes over many years to make the food and drink we all buy healthier, in line with government guidelines”.
She said FDF-member products now contained a third less salt and sugar and a quarter fewer calories than in 2015.
Previous studies cited by the British Heart Foundation have linked UPFs to a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, and early death.
A 2023 meta analysis in the PubMed journal said evidence suggested an association between UPF intake “and the risk of overall and several cancers, including colorectal, breast and pancreatic cancer”.
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Get cancer symptoms checked, charity urges
It comes as Cancer Research UK warned too many Britons are putting off getting potential symptoms checked.
A poll for the charity suggested the top reasons people delay getting potential signs of cancer checked is because of a lack of GP appointments, or thinking their symptoms might not be serious.
More than half (53%) of the 6,844 surveyed said they were put off as they believed getting seen would be difficult, while 47% said they actually had found it difficult to get an appointment.
Some 44% put it off as they though the symptom wasn’t serious, 41% believed they could manage things themselves, and 40% didn’t want to be seen as making a fuss.
Cancer Research UK said it had now trained Tesco pharmacists to spot possible cancer signs – and that people can speak to them in private if they needed.
The pharmacists will be able to give advice on next steps and whether a GP appointment is recommended.
