Ultra-processed foods may increase risk of preventable premature deaths: Study

Do you regularly eat ready-to-eat-or-heat foods? Beware, a global study on Monday showed that the consumption of such ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can significantly increase the risk of preventable premature deaths.

Previous studies have linked UPFs — rich in sodium, trans fats, and sugar — with 32 different diseases including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer, and depression.

The new study analysed data from nationally representative dietary surveys and mortality data from eight countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, United Kingdom, and the US).

The findings published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, show that premature deaths attributable to consumption of UPFs increase significantly according to their share in individuals’ total energy intake.

The study reinforces the call for global action to reduce UPF consumption, supported by regulatory and fiscal policies that foster healthier environments.

UPFs are ready-to-eat-or-heat industrial formulations made with ingredients extracted from foods or synthesised in laboratories, with little or no whole foods in their composition.

“UPFs affect health beyond the individual impact of the high content of critical nutrients (sodium, trans fats, and sugar) because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colourants, artificial flavours, and sweeteners, emulsifiers, and many other additives and processing aids, so assessing deaths from all-causes associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health,” said lead investigator Eduardo AF Nilson, from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The team initially estimated a linear association between the dietary share of UPFs and all-cause mortality so that each 10 per cent increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3 per cent.

Then, using the relative risks and the food consumption data for all countries (ranging from 15 per cent of the total energy intake in Colombia to over 50 per cent of the calories in the US), they built a model.

The results estimated that the percentage of all-cause premature preventable deaths due to the consumption of UPFs can vary from 4 per cent in countries with lower UPF consumption to almost 14 per cent in countries with the highest UPF consumption.

The team raised concerns that consumption of UPFs in high-income countries UPF while already high is relatively stable for over a decade. On the other hand, the consumption has continuously increased in low- and middle-income countries.

This means that while the attributable burden in high-income countries is currently higher, it is growing in the other countries, the researchers said.

“This shows that policies that disincentivise the consumption of UPFs are urgently needed globally, promoting traditional dietary patterns based on local fresh and minimally processed foods,” Nilson said.

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