Leading scientists demand action on ultra-processed food
Top nutrition researchers rarely agree this loudly. Ultra-processed food damages health, they say, and the system producing it is fundamentally broken. Now they are calling for sweeping political action.
Ultra-processed food (UPF) is more than just unhealthy eating. It refers to industrially manufactured products containing additives, flavour enhancers and ingredients you would never find in a home kitchen. Think reconstituted meat products, sweetened cereals and ready meals. In many Western countries, such products account for more than half of all calories consumed.
A special issue with one clear message
A group of leading nutrition scientists brought their findings together in a special edition of the American Journal of Public Health. Their collective message: stop waiting for more evidence and act now. The researchers also presented new polling data showing that concerns about the health harms of ultra-processed food are widely shared across political lines.
Food politics scholar Marion Nestle, one of the contributors, put it plainly: the system is designed to sell as much of this food as possible, not to keep people healthy. That demands structural measures, not individual advice.
The link to aging
For longevity science this matters because chronic diseases associated with UPF consumption, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, also accelerate biological aging. More chronic low-grade inflammation (inflammaging) in the body is one of the mechanisms through which poor diet influences the aging process. Policies that reduce UPF intake could therefore have population-level effects on how people age.
Researchers advocate better labelling, restrictions on marketing to children and subsidies for unprocessed food. Whether the political will exists to take those steps is another question.