Researchers from Harvard, the University of Michigan and Duke University conclude that many ultra-processed products - such as carbonated soft drinks, chips, cookies and sweets - are industrially designed to encourage compulsive consumption.
According to the study, published in the journal Milbank Quarterly, these products are "highly engineered and hedonistically optimized," following principles developed over decades in the tobacco industry.
The authors argue that the food industry has adopted key techniques from the tobacco industry: precise dosing of sugar, fat, and salt, combined with textures and flavors that maximally stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. The goal is not satiety, but repeated and excessive consumption.
Therefore, scientists recommend a similar regulatory approach to that currently applied to tobacco - including clearer product labeling, higher taxes, restrictions on availability in schools and health facilities, as well as strict restrictions on marketing, especially that directed at children.
Unlike tobacco, food is essential to life - which, according to the authors, makes regulation more urgent. "In the modern food supply system, it is almost impossible to completely avoid ultra-processed foods," the study states.
What is ultra-processed food?
Although there is no single global definition, ultra-processed foods are generally considered to be products that undergo multiple stages of industrial processing and contain numerous additives - from emulsifiers and preservatives to artificial flavors and colors. This category includes carbonated drinks, sweets, snacks, ready-made meals, processed meats, spreads, as well as some meat substitutes and industrial muesli.
Such a diet is usually high in calories, sugar, salt and saturated fat, and low in fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Studies show that ultra-processed foods are increasingly replacing natural foods and freshly prepared meals: in developed countries they account for about half of all calories consumed, but this is increasingly the case in less developed parts of the world as well.
UNICEF: save children from unhealthy food
The consequences of the increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods are most visible among children and young people. In its latest Child Nutrition Report, UNICEF warns that children around the world are growing up in an environment where they are constantly exposed to cheap and aggressively advertised ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks - especially through digital channels - while healthy foods are often unavailable or too expensive.
According to UNICEF, for the first time in the world, there are more obese than undernourished children and youth. Around 20 percent of children and adolescents aged five to 19 are overweight (391 million), while 9,4 percent – or around 188 million – are obese. At the same time, 9,2 percent of children and youth are undernourished.
UNICEF makes a clear distinction between overweight and obesity, emphasizing that obesity is a more severe and health-risky form.
The organization cites strong evidence that high intake of ultra-processed foods in children is linked not only to obesity, but also to poorer diet quality, micronutrient deficiencies and dental problems, mental health, as well as an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and other chronic diseases later in life.
This is why UNICEF recommends banning unhealthy food in schools – primarily ultra-processed products – stricter regulation of marketing, mandatory labeling and taxation of unhealthy products, greater availability of locally produced healthy food, as political protection from the influence of the food industry.
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