A diet high in ultra-processed foods (UPF) may be linked to a greater risk of an early death, according to a new study reported by the BBC.
The researchers involved in the study looked at previous research to estimate the impact of UPF intake on mortality, the 28 April report said.
However, the study could not definitively prove that UPFs caused any premature deaths as the amount of UPFs in a person’s diet was also linked to their overall diet, exercise levels, wider lifestyle and wealth, which could also affect health, the BBC wrote.
Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study looked at surveys of people’s diets and at data on deaths from eight countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, UK and the USA.
Increasingly common in diets worldwide, examples of UPFs include processed meats, biscuits, fizzy drinks, ice cream and some breakfast cereals.
UPFs tend to contain more than five ingredients which are not usually found in home cooked foods, such as additives, sweeteners and chemicals to improve the food’s texture or appearance.
The report estimated that in the UK and the USA, where UPFs accounted for more than half of calorie intake, 14% of early deaths could be linked to the harm they caused, the BBC wrote.
In countries such as Colombia and Brazil, where UPF intake was much lower (less than 20% of calorie intake), the study estimated these foods were linked to around 4% of premature deaths.
Lead study author Dr Eduardo Nilson, from Brazil, was quoted as saying that UPFs affected health due to “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”.
According to the study, in 2018, there were 124,000 and 18,000 premature deaths due to the consumption of UPFs in the USA and in the UK respectively.
The researchers urged governments to update their dietary advice to encourage people to cut back on these foods.
Meanwhile, the UK government’s expert panel on nutrition recently said there was not any strong evidence of a link between the way food is processed and poor health, the BBC wrote.
Dr Nerys Astbury, an expert in diet and obesity at the University of Oxford, agreed there were limitations to the research.
“Studies to date haven’t been able to prove that the effects of UPFs are due to anything more than ‘diets high in foods which are energy dense and contain large amounts of fat and sugar’,” she was quoted as saying.
According to the Food and Drink Federation, which represents manufacturers, the term UPF “demonises a wide variety of food that can help people achieve a healthy balanced diet, such as yoghurt, pasta sauces or bread”.