"The entire diet is being ultra-processed."
Ultra-processed food (UPFs) is linked to harm across every major human organ, experts have warned.
UPFs include ready meals, crisps, sugary snacks and many breakfast cereals. They have been associated with obesity, heart disease, cancer and early death.
The findings come from a review published in The Lancet, which examined how UPFs are rapidly replacing fresh food in diets worldwide. The authors also highlighted the role of large food corporations in driving consumption.
The review was conducted by 43 scientists and researchers. They concluded that food firms prioritise profit, pushing UPFs to displace fresh options, worsen diet quality and contribute to multiple chronic diseases.
Authors said: “The key driver of the global rise in UPFs is the growing economic and political power of the UPF industry, and its restructuring of food systems for profitability above all else.”
Researchers analysed 104 long-term studies on UPFs. Of these, 92 reported a greater risk of one or more chronic diseases, as well as early death from all causes.
UPFs often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt, sugar and additives. Experts said this leaves less room in people’s diets for more nutritious foods and encourages overeating.
They also tend to include ingredients rarely used in home cooking. These include preservatives, emulsifiers and artificial colours and flavours.
The dietary share of UPFs remains below 25% in countries such as Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Portugal, as well as across much of Asia. However, it stands at around 50% in both the UK and the US.
For some groups, particularly younger people, those on lower incomes, or those living in disadvantaged areas, UPFs can make up as much as 80 per cent of the diet.
The authors said some countries have introduced measures to reformulate foods and control UPFs. However, they warned that the overall response remains limited.
The team said: “The global public health response is still nascent, akin to where the tobacco control movement was decades ago”.
They added that government policy, including in high-income countries such as the UK, has done little to address the “commercial and structural determinants of the problem”.
Instead, policy has focused on consumer responsibility, industry partnerships and voluntary self-regulation.
Examples include companies replacing sugar with sweeteners or reducing fat content in some products.
Study authors argued that the main barrier to stronger public health policy is “industry’s corporate political activities, coordinated transnationally through a global network of front groups, multi-stakeholder initiatives, and research partners, to counter opposition and block regulation”.
These activities include direct lobbying, “infiltrating government agencies”, and filing lawsuits.
The experts said the continued rise of ultra-processed foods is not inevitable. They argued that ongoing research into health impacts should not delay policies promoting diets based on whole foods.
Professor Chris Van Tulleken, from University College London, and one of the study’s authors, said the food industry has spent decades reformulating products.
He told a press briefing there had been a “three-decade history of reformulation by the food industry”.
He added: “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 ultra-processed.
“And remember that built into the definition of ultra-processed 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.”
Other experts called for more high-quality research. They noted that current studies show links between UPFs and poor health, but not direct causation.
Professor Jules Griffin, from the University of Aberdeen, said the authors had shown “a wide range of chronic diseases are associated with increased consumption of ultra-processed foods” but added that “association may not be causation, as the authors freely admit”.
Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said: “There’s still room for doubt and for clarification from further research.”
Industry representatives defended current approaches to food production.
Kate Halliwell, chief scientific officer at the Food and Drink Federation, said:
“Food and drink manufacturers make a wide range of products, all of which can form part of a balanced diet – from everyday food and drink, like frozen peas, wholemeal bread and breakfast cereals, to treats like puddings and confectionery.
“Companies have been making a series of changes over many years to make the food and drink we all buy healthier, in line with government guidelines.
“As a result, FDF-member products on sale across shops and supermarkets now contain a third less salt and sugar and a quarter fewer calories than they did in 2015.”
She added that the UK’s advice to eat more fruit, vegetables and fibre, and less sugar and salt, is “based on decades of scientific evidence”.
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