The world’s largest comprehensive scientific review published as a series in The Lancet, has delivered an (alarming) warning about Ultra-Processed Foods and their immense harm to human health in its entirety. A review of this kind positions the rapid rise of UPFs not just as a dietary concern but as “seismic threat” to global health and wellbeing.
The three-paper series, authored by 43 of the world’s leading experts, systematically reviewed 104 long-term studies and found that 92 reported significant associations between high UPF consumption and an increased risk of chronic diseases (Journal of Clin Nutr 47(6) : 1386 – 1394). These include obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and depression, with the evidence pointing to damage across the entire human biological system.
Prof. Carlos Monteiro, a series author and professor of public health nutrition at the University of São Paulo stated that, “The first paper in this Lancet series indicates that ultra- processed foods harm every major organ system in the human body. The evidence strongly suggests that humans are not biologically adapted to consume them.”
The second paper in the series proposes policies to regulate and reduce UPF production, marketing and consumption. The progress in the fight to alleviate current UPF crisis is similar to the early days of tobacco control, which shows the global policy response remains dangerously underdeveloped.
The third paper argues that this dietary shift is not a failure of personal choice but a manufactured outcome. The series points to aggressive tactics by global food corporations extensive marketing, political lobbying and efforts to shape scientific debate that blocks regulations. These industrial formulations prioritize profit over human wellbeing and health, they are made out of convenience and not out of dietary benefits.
As the global diet shifts increasingly toward the manufactured and the convenient, this landmark review serves as an undeniable wake-up call. Ultra-processed foods are not merely a dietary trend to be managed but a public health emergency to be controlled. The evidence assembled by these researchers transforms what might seem like a personal choice into a collective action problem—one where the health of populations hangs in the balance. The remaining question is clear what is to be done to counter and alleviate this seismic threat before it reaches a magnitude that is impossible to come back from.
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What are UPFs?
These are industrial formulations of processed food substances (eg. oils, solid fats, sugars, starch, protein isolates) that can contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, artificial colorings, sweeteners, emulsifiers and other additives and preservatives.