Ultra-processed food lethal

 From The Guardian

Consuming large amounts of ultra-processed food (UPF) increases the risk of an early death, according to a international study that has reignited calls for a crackdown on UPF.

Each 10% extra intake of UPF, such as pre-packaged bread, cakes and ready meals, increases someone’s risk of dying before they reach 75 by 3%, according to research in countries including the US and England.

UPF is so damaging to health that it is implicated in as many as one in seven of all premature deaths that occur in some countries, according to a paper in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

They are associated with 124,107 early deaths in the US a year and 17,781 deaths every year in England, the review of dietary and mortality data from eight countries found.

Eduardo Augusto Fernandes Nilson, the lead investigator of the study, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, said that additives such as sweeteners and flavourings harm health not just UPFs’ high levels of fat, salt and sugar.

The authors found “a linear dose-response association between the ultra-processed food consumption and all-cause mortality” when they examined official surveys previously undertaken in the UK and US, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile and Mexico.

While 4%, 5% and 6% of premature deaths in Colombia, Brazil and Chile respectively are “attributable to UPF consumption”, the equivalent percentage is 10.9% in Canada, 13.7% in the US and 13.8% in England – the highest proportion among the eight countries.

“Premature deaths attributable to consumptions of ultra-processed foods increase significantly according to their share in individuals’ total energy intake. A high amount of UPF intake can significantly affect health,” the researchers concluded.

Death rates are highest in the countries where the population gets the largest amounts of total energy from eating UPF.

In England that is 53.4%, according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey undertaken in 2018-19. But it is even higher in the US – 54.5%.

“We first estimated a linear association between the dietary share of UPFs and all-cause mortality, so that each 10% increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3%,” said Nilson.

“UPFs affect health beyond the individual impact of high content of critical nutrients – sodium, trans fats and sugar – 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.”

While the burden of ill-health from UPF is highest in high-income countries, it is growing in low- and middle-income nations, added Nilson.

The authors urged governments worldwide to introduce bold measures to tackle UPF, including tighter regulation of food marketing and the sale of food in schools and workplaces, and also taxes on UPF products to reduce sales.