Ultra-processed foods: here's what the evidence actually says about them

• Ultra-processed foods, in short, are commercially manufactured food products that include ingredients you wouldn’t cook with at home.
• Some of this processing makes foods more palatable, some increases shelf life and makes them more affordable – such as wholemeal supermarket bread, for example.
• A fair number of ultra-processed foods will have some of these unfavourable nutritional profiles – but many don’t.

Myths scrutinised

• Nor is there strong evidence that whether a food is ultra-processed or not is what determines how it may affect your health.
• Many studies have shown that people whose diets are high in ultra-processed foods have poorer health compared to those whose diets contain fewer ultra-processed foods.
• However, research suggests that it’s some specific types of ultra-processed foods foods that are linked to worse health in studies that examine this, rather than all ultra-processed foods.

• The study looked at whether ultra-processed food consumption was associated with developing cancer.
• We also know that people from poorer backgrounds or who have worse mental health often eat more ultra-processed food.
• Perhaps in the future, convincing evidence might show that some specific types of food processing can cause severe health problems.
• But until then, sensationalist messages and misleading claims about ultra-processed food are very real problems.

I receive research funding from the ESRC, NIHR and ERC. During 2014-2016, I was a named investigator on projects funded by Unilever and the American Beverage Association. I do not receive any funding, financial awards or fees from the food industry.