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Ultra-processed food in diets present an urgent challenge to health, according to the world’s largest review co-authored by Dr Paulo Serodio, from our Institute for Social and Economic Research.

A new three paper Series, published in , reviews evidence that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are replacing fresh and minimally processed foods and meals, worsening diet quality, and are associated with an increased risk of multiple chronic diseases.

The Lancet Series on Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health argues, that although additional studies on the impact of UPFs on human health will be valuable, further research should not delay immediate and decisive public health action to tackle UPFs and improve diets globally.

The international research team found that improving diets cannot rely on consumer behaviour change alone – it requires coordinated policies to reduce UPF production, marketing, and consumption, alongside tackling high fat, sugar and salt and improving access to healthy food.

said: “We are used to thinking of ultra-processed foods as a matter of personal responsibility, but the evidence tells a different story. What people eat is shaped far more by the commercial interests that govern our food systems than by individual willpower.

“This Lancet Series makes clear that tackling the harms from ultra-processed foods will require not just new product rules, but also stronger safeguards against corporate influence in science and health policy.”

The Series sets out how UPFs are the product of a food economy driven by corporate profit, not nutrition or sustainability. Only a coordinated global response can combat UPF companies’ political playbook – the largest barrier to implementing effective policies to reduce the share of UPFs in people’s diets.

UPFs are branded products made from inexpensive industrial ingredients such as hydrogenated oils, glucose/fructose syrup and cosmetic food additives such as dyes, artificial sweeteners and emulsifiers. They are designed and marketed to displace fresh and minimally processed foods and traditional meals, while maximising corporate profits.

• Read  about the study on the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) website.