Overview
- Forty‑three experts authored a three‑part Lancet analysis detailing how the expansion of ultra‑processed foods is displacing fresh and minimally processed foods worldwide.
- Evidence summarized in the series associates high consumption of ultra‑processed foods with overeating, poorer nutrient profiles, and higher risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
- WHO commentators warn that healthy staples have become unaffordable for many as ultra‑processed products remain cheap and ubiquitous, while UNICEF labels the global spread a pressing yet underaddressed threat to child health.
- The authors report that the ultra‑processed food sector generated about $1.9 trillion in revenue in 2023 and describe aggressive marketing and lobbying that hinder effective public‑health regulation.
- Consumption levels are high in wealthy countries, reaching roughly half of daily energy intake in the US and UK, and a German market analysis found about half of supermarket offerings qualify as ultra‑processed.