According to the epidemiologist who coined the term “ultra-processed foods,” they are so harmful to health that they should be sold with warnings like cigarettes.
“UPF [Ultra-processed foods] “Its share and dominance in the global diet is growing despite the health risks it poses in terms of increasing the risk of many chronic diseases,” Carlos Monteiro, a professor of nutrition and public health at the University of São Paulo, told The Guardian.
“[They] “These foods are replacing healthier, less processed foods around the world and are also causing a decline in diet quality due to some of their harmful properties,” he said. “Together, these foods are contributing to an epidemic of diet-related chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.”
Speaking at the International Obesity Congress 2024 this week, Monteiro warned that ultra-processed foods (UPF) are now so prevalent and posing such a huge impact on human health that their sale and consumption should be severely restricted and should carry a “front-of-pack warning”. […] “Harmful substances” similar to those used in cigarette packets have been introduced into toxic foods.
At first glance, this idea seems logical, but it’s a bit extreme. UPFs permeate the diets of many people in the Western world, with more than half of the average diet in the US and UK consisting of this type of food. UPFs increase the average calorie intake of those who eat them, even when compared to an unprocessed diet with the same amounts of salt, fat and sugar, and are associated with a range of negative physical effects, including an increased risk of heart disease, various cancers and diabetes, and can also lead to poor mental health.
Monteiro’s argument that UPFs should be treated as a public health hazard, like tobacco products, is therefore not without merit. “Both cigarettes and UPFs are responsible for many serious illnesses and premature deaths. Both are produced by multinational corporations that invest the huge profits they make from their irresistible, addictive products in aggressive marketing strategies and anti-regulatory lobbying. And both are pathogenic (dangerous) by design,” Monteiro noted. “Improvement is not the solution.”
But some say the UPF bans and restrictions are too simplistic. For starters, you might be surprised at the types of foods that would be affected by such measures. As dramatic as it may sound, the term “ultra-processed foods” actually only refers to foods that contain multiple ingredients and additives. That means that includes the fast-food burger combo you’re thinking of, but also powdered milk, fruit yogurt, and even store-bought bread.
UPF consumption is also heavily skewed towards the poor: “We already know that consumption of ultra-processed foods and high-sugar snacks is associated with higher rates of obesity, and we also know that there are socio-economic disparities in health and diet,” Paul Coleman, honorary senior research fellow at the Food Policy Centre, City, University of London, and senior public health registrar at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, noted in November 2023.
For these parents, labeling won’t help. “They know [UPFs] “It’s bad for kids’ health,” Coleman said, but they have “no choice but to buy the unhealthy options.” […] Despite parents’ desire to buy healthy options, unhealthy snacks are cheap and have a long shelf life, making them the most logical choice.”
Similarly, while Monteiro draws a comparison to tobacco products, other scientists reject the analogy: “There are no safe cigarettes, even from passive smoking, so banning tobacco is relatively easy, given the very clear health effects,” Hilda Mulroney, a lecturer in nutrition and health at London Metropolitan University, told The Guardian.
“But we need different nutrients, including fats, sugars and salts, and they have different functions in food – taste, flavour and hedonic properties, but also structure, shelf life,” she explained. “It’s not that easy to reformulate some foods to reduce those nutrients. And they’re not the same as cigarettes, because we need food, just not in the amounts that most people consume.”
The 2024 International Congress on Obesity will take place from 26 to 29 June 2024 in São Paulo, Brazil.
