Scale of Britain's junk food crisis laid bare
Junk food is behind almost 20,000 premature deaths in the UK each year, a study has suggested.
Ultra-processed foods – such as ice cream, processed meats such as ham, mass-produced bread, breakfast cereals, ready meals, biscuits, and fizzy drinks – are being increasingly linked to bad health.
The concept of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) has been popularised by figures such as Prof Tim Spector, founder of the wellness project Zoe, and Dr Chris van Tulleken, the TV doctor and author.
UPFs have previously been linked to increasing rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer, and now experts believe they may be behind thousands of early deaths each year.
They often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar, and typically include additives, preservatives and other ingredients not used in home cooking – such as emulsifiers and artificial colours and flavours – which are added by manufacturers.
They have been the result of society's shift toward buying food that can be eaten quickly or on-the-go, like meal deals and ready meals, combined with extending shelf life of products and what experts say are the addictive characteristics of UPFs.
But concerns are growing about the impact these types of food are having on our health.
Stop signs on food packaging
Researchers from Brazil's scientific institution, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, analysed the impact of UPFs on the rates of premature deaths in eight separate countries.
The study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, found UPFs made up 53 per cent of people's food energy consumption in the UK.
This was the second highest behind only the US at 55 per cent.
Using mathematical modelling, the authors found the proportion of premature deaths attributable to UPFs ranged from 4 per cent in Colombia, where consumption is lower and regulations are stricter, up to 14 per cent of premature deaths in the UK and US.
The researchers said that in 2018-19, some 17,781 premature deaths in the UK could have been linked to UPFs, according to their model.
Many countries in South America require UPFs to have black octagonal stop signs on their packaging so consumers are aware, with proposals for them to be used in the UK put forward by former government food tsar and National Food Strategy author Henry Dimbleby.
Eduardo Nilson, lead investigator of the study from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, said the impact of UPFs on health went 'beyond the individual impact' of high levels of salt, fat and sugar.
He suggested this was 'because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colourants, artificial flavours and sweeteners, emulsifiers, and many other additives and processing aids'.
'So assessing deaths from all causes associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health,' he said.
Dr Nilson added that the study found 'each 10 per cent increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3 per cent.'
The research team also looked at data from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Mexico.
'Health harms of UPFs'
Scientists are not sure whether the link to poor health and early death is just because of the high content of known risk factors – salt, sugar and fat – or whether there is something additional at play when foods are 'ultra-processed'.
Prof Nita Forouhi, professor of population health and nutrition at the University of Cambridge, said the study had limitations but 'nonetheless, evidence on the health harms of UPFs are accumulating and this paper does add to that body of evidence'.
She said while this study was observational and could not prove a link between the two, it was 'the best we are going to get realistically', adding that 'we should not ignore such findings, especially as the current research has reported consistently similar associations in several countries which increases the degree of confidence'.
Stephen Burgess, statistician at the University of Cambridge, said it was possible the actual cause was a 'related risk factor such as better physical fitness', but the replication of the trend across countries and cultures 'raises suspicion that ultra-processed foods may be more than a bystander'.
Nerys Astbury, associate professor from the University of Oxford, disagreed with the study authors' call for UPFs to be added to national dietary guideline recommendations, such as the suggested limits on daily sugar and salt intake.
' Many UPF tend to be high in these nutrients, and studies to date have been unable to determine with certainty whether the effects of UPF are independent of the already established effects of diets high in foods which are energy dense and contain large amounts of fat and sugar,' she said.
'Rushing to add recommendations on UPF to these recommendations is not warranted based on this study in my opinion.'
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