Overview
- An international group of 43 experts published a three-paper series in The Lancet synthesizing more than 100 longitudinal studies that associate high intake of ultra-processed products with higher risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, kidney and gastrointestinal conditions, and premature mortality.
- In Spain, the share of daily calories from ultra-processed foods rose from about 11% to roughly 32% over recent decades, with parallel increases reported in Mexico and Brazil (≈10% to ≈23%), China (4% to 10%), and levels exceeding 50% in the United States and the United Kingdom.
- The authors recommend mandatory front-of-pack identification, bans on marketing to children, removal from schools and hospitals, limits on supermarket placement, and targeted taxes to finance access to fresh, minimally processed foods.
- The series describes how multinational producers use aggressive marketing, political lobbying, and scientific messaging strategies comparable to those of the tobacco and fossil-fuel industries to resist regulation and expand sales.
- WHO and UNICEF voiced support for the initiative, and the authors detail plausible biological and behavioral pathways for harm while calling for further research to distinguish effects across product types and over the long term.