{"id":101006,"date":"2025-03-11T10:16:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T09:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bioecoactual.com\/?p=101006"},"modified":"2025-06-23T18:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T16:10:31","slug":"addictive-ultraprocessed-food-is-the-new-tobacco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bioecoactual.com\/en\/2025\/03\/11\/addictive-ultraprocessed-food-is-the-new-tobacco\/","title":{"rendered":"Addictive ultraprocessed food is the new tobacco"},"content":{"rendered":"

The controversy over ultraprocessed foods (UPFs)<\/strong> is intensifying as consumer awareness of the health risks of such foods grows, and large food companies face blowback over their UPFs on multiple fronts. Incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has called UPFs “poison.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to require warning labels on UPF packaged foods A landmark lawsuit has been filed against 11 major food companies by a Pennsylvania teenager who claims he developed type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease because of eating the companies\u2019 UPFs. The governor of California issued an executive order to crack down on UPFs. The Non-GMO Project is introducing a new certification program for non-ultraprocessed foods.<\/p>\n

\"ultraprocessed<\/p>\n

“Alien to prior human experience”<\/h2>\n

What are UPFs? Unfortunately, there is no commonly accepted definition. The Pennsylvania lawsuit states that ultra-processed foods are \u201cindustrially produced edible substances that are imitations of food. They consist of former foods that have been fractioned into substances, chemically modified, combined with additives, and then reassembled using industrial techniques such as molding, extrusion and pressurization.\u201d The lawsuit claims UPFs are \u201calien to prior human experience.\u201d Author Michael Pollan has famously referred to UPFs as \u201cedible food-like substances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Examples of ultraprocessed foods<\/strong> include sweetened breakfast cereals, carbonated drinks\/soda, white bread, flavored candy bars with a long ingredient list, mashed potato flakes, and flavored granola bars with added sugar and preservatives, to name just a few.<\/p>\n

According to Michelle Perro, MD and CEO of GMOScience.org, nutrients are lost at every step of the food processing process. \u201cThere are many problems in industrialized foods that are ultraprocessed because the process itself lowers nutrient density, and solvents like hexane and others are used, which are benzene compounds and are carcinogens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Food companies under increasing fire for addictive ultraprocessed foods that have been linked to many health problems<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How prevalent are UPFs? According to some estimates, UPFs account for more than 70% of food items sold in grocery stores<\/strong>. A 2019 National Institute of Health\u2019s study found that more than half of all calories consumed in the U.S. are derived from ultraprocessed foods.<\/p>\n

Despite the pervasiveness of UPFs in the U.S. food system, most consumers are unaware of or confused about them. According to a survey of U.S. consumers by Innova Market Insights, only 19% acknowledged they consume UPFs daily<\/strong>. But because most consumers can\u2019t define what UPFs are, 44% identified them as fast food and junk food.<\/p>\n

Like addictive drugs<\/h3>\n

UPFs deliver precise combinations of sugar, salt, and fat that aim to trigger pleasure responses in the brain, like addictive drugs<\/strong>, according to the Non-GMO Project How the food industry manipulated those three ingredients and created addictive unhealthy foods was documented in the 2013 best-selling book, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Industry Hooked Us<\/em> by Michael Moss. The Pennsylvania lawsuit describes how food companies adopted the tactics of tobacco companies to make UPFs addictive, especially to children. The lawsuit states: \u201cThey used their cigarette playbook to fill our food environment with addictive substances that are aggressively marketed to children and minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last December, FDA commissioner Dr. Robert Califf admitted, during a U.S. senate committee hearing on the diabetes and obesity epidemics, that the food industry is marketing addictive food<\/strong>. \u201cThe food industry has figured out there is a combination of sweet, carbohydrates, and salt that goes to our brains, and I think it\u2019s addictive,\u201d Califf said. \u201cI think it\u2019s the same neural circuits that are involved in opioid addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

UPFs deliver precise combinations of sugar, salt, and fat that aim to trigger pleasure responses in the brain, like addictive drugs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

California Governor Gavin Newsome recently issued an executive order to take action on UPFs. \u201cThe food we eat shouldn\u2019t make us sick with disease or lead to lifelong consequences,\u201d Newsome said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to work with the industry, consumers and experts to crack down on ultraprocessed foods, and create a healthier future for every Californian.\u201d Maybe the FDA is starting to get the message about UPFs. In January, the agency announced it will ban the use of Red Dye No. 3 in food after years of lobbying by consumer advocates. Red 3 is a synthetic food colorant found in hundreds, if not thousands, of processed foods, particularly candy and other sweets. The dye has been linked to a range of serious health concerns, particularly for children.<\/p>\n

Health risks of UPFs<\/h3>\n

A growing body of research is finding that UPFs are linked to severe health risks including cancer, cardiovascular and liver disease, and dementia. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n