Ultra-processed food (UPH) is replacing healthy diets "around the world" despite growing evidence of the risks it poses and should be sold with warnings like those on tobacco products, a world-leading nutritionist has said.
Professor Carlos Monteiro from the University of Sao Paulo will highlight the dangers that UPH poses to children and adults at the International Congress on Obesity, which takes place at the end of this week. "UPH is replacing healthier, less processed foods around the world... and is fueling the obesity epidemic and other diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes," Monteiro told The Guardian ahead of the conference in Sao Paulo.
The warning comes at a time when global consumption of ultra-processed foods such as protein bars, sodas, fast food, ready meals and cereals is on the rise worldwide.
“Both tobacco and UPH cause numerous serious illnesses and premature deaths; both are produced by international corporations that invest huge profits in aggressive marketing campaigns and lobbying against regulation, and both are pathogenic by design, Monteiro said.
In February, the world's largest report of its kind was published, stating that UPH is directly linked to 32 adverse health conditions, including a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, mental health disorders and early death.
Monteiro told "The Guardian" that he is now so concerned about the impact of ultra-processed food on human health that studies and reports are no longer enough to warn the public about health risks.
"Public health campaigns, such as those against tobacco, are needed to combat the risks of UPH," he said. "Advertising for UPH should also be banned or severely restricted, and front-of-pack warnings, similar to those used on cigarette packs, should be introduced."
Monetiro believes that the sale of ultra-processed food in schools and health institutions should be banned, and UPH should be heavily taxed, with the proceeds being used to subsidize fresh food. He also drew parallels between ultra-processed food companies and tobacco companies. “Both tobacco and UPH cause numerous serious illnesses and premature deaths; both are produced by international corporations that invest the huge profits they make from their attractive/addictive products into aggressive marketing campaigns and lobbying against regulation; and both are pathogenic (dangerous) by design, so reformulation is not the answer.”
However, Dr Hilda Mulroney, a lecturer in nutrition and health at London Metropolitan University, believes that comparing ultra-processed foods to tobacco is "very simplistic".
“There is no such thing as a safe cigarette, not even a second-hand smoke, so the ban is relatively simple because the health rationale is very clear. However, we need different nutrients, including fat, sugar and salt, and they have multiple functions in food - structural - not just those related to taste and hedonic properties. "It's not easy to reformulate some foods to reduce these ingredients, and they're not the same as tobacco because we need food — just not in the amounts most of us consume."
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