Overview
- Authors report that 92 of 104 long-term studies found higher risks associated with UPF-heavy diets, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression.
- UPFs are increasingly displacing whole foods and now account for more than half of average diets in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
- The series attributes the rise to concentrated corporate power and marketing, noting eight multinationals held 42% of sector assets in 2021.
- Recommended measures include front-of-pack labels with UPF markers, tighter advertising rules for children, targeted taxes and limits or bans in public institutions, with Brazil’s school-food program cited as a model.
- Industry groups and some independent scientists say the recommendations overreach current evidence, stressing that most studies show associations rather than causation and calling for further research.