An international team of 43 experts considers that ultra-processed foods represent a major public health problem that has great parallels with smoking: behind their growing consumption there are influential multinationals that must be stopped with stricter regulation by governments.
The scientific journal The Lancet publishes this Wednesday a special dedicated to the matter disseminated in three complementary studies with the participation of the Spanish universities of Salamanca and Navarra. This is the most complete meta-analysis to date on the impact of global consumption of ultra-processed foods and how to address it.
In a press conference organized by the magazine to present it, one of the main authors, Phillip Baker, from the University of Sydney (Australia), was very clear: reducing the consumption of ultra-processed foods cannot be left solely in the hands of citizens, “it must be regulated as was done with tobacco.”
Ultra-processed foods are made with cheap, generally harmful ingredients (additives and harmful chemicals) and have poor nutritional quality: too much salt, sugars and unhealthy fats; and very little fiber and protein, the authors explained.
They are displacing established dietary patterns, worsening the quality of the diet and increasing all types of chronic diseases related to diet.
The existing scientific evidence shows that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods implies more obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression, kidney pathologies and a greater risk of premature death, according to the review of 104 scientific studies carried out in the first article of the series.
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Worrying growth
Several national surveys indicate that the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet is growing at a rate that scientists consider “very worrying.”
The daily intake of calories from ultra-processed foods has tripled in Spain in three decades, going from 11% to 32%, or in China (from 4% to 10%). While in countries like Mexico, Brazil went from 10% to 23% in the last four decades.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, it has increased slightly over the past two decades, remaining above 50%.
The second article in the series proposes a set of policies that urges governments to regulate and reduce the production, marketing and consumption of ultra-processed foods to safeguard public health against “the powerful ultra-processed manufacturing industry.”
Among its recommendations: a label more similar to that of a pack of tobacco, which informs about its additives (dyes, flavorings, sweeteners…) and the risk they pose to health in a clearly visible way on the front of a product.
They propose removing these products from school cafeterias and hospitals, limiting their presence in supermarkets; restrict their advertising and impose more taxes, the revenue from which is destined to ensure that fruits, vegetables and fresh foods reach homes with fewer resources.
Buying ultra-processed foods that are harmful to health cannot be so cheap, “we must tax them higher and allocate that money to making it easier to access fresh and healthy food,” Camila Corvalán, director of the Center for Research in Food Environments and Prevention of Chronic Diseases Associated with Nutrition (CIAPEC) of Chile, stressed at the press conference.
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Coordinated global response
The third article explains how global companies, and not individual choices, are driving the rise of ultra-processed foods, and concludes that a global health response to this challenge “is urgent and feasible.”
The authors highlight how ultra-processed food companies use cheap ingredients and industrial methods to reduce costs, along with aggressive marketing and attractive designs to drive consumption.
Ultra-processed foods constitute the most profitable food sector, with global annual sales of billions of euros, which serve to expand their production, marketing and political influence. The result: the transformation of diets and public health worldwide.
The article reveals how ultra-processing companies employ sophisticated political tactics to protect their profits: blocking regulations, influencing scientific debates and public opinion.
“They coordinate hundreds of interest groups around the world, lobby politicians, make political donations, and engage in litigation to delay policies,” Baker highlighted.
The authors compare this situation with that of the tobacco industry and call for promoting food systems focused on health, equity and sustainability.
With information from EFE.
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