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Ultra-processed food

Ultra-processed foods are making people sick – and the industry profiting from them is blocking the solutions.

What is the problem? 

UPFs have become cheap, abundant and widely available: present not just in supermarkets but in schools and workplaces, at railway stops, in vending machines and corner shops. They are often high in fat, sugar and/or salt, and one or more food additives while low in fibre, vitamins and other beneficial nutrients. They can also disrupt the way the body absorbs nutrients, and contaminants from processing or packaging add a further layer of risk. The result is a major contributor to cancer and heart disease as well as a range of other serious conditions. 

Any policy discussion on ultra-processed foods must also take into account that we are not only talking about ingredients and processing, but a whole system: one that is heavily marketed, enjoys a privileged position in the food environment, produces products are engineered to make sure we eat more and ensures corporate control of the entire food chain. Non-communicable diseases – to which UPFs are a major contributor – cause 1.8 million avoidable deaths and cost over $514 billion every year in Europe alone, according to the WHO. It is essential to recognise that the nutritional quality of a product and the degree to which it is processed are two sides of the same coin – both matter and cannot be separated.  

What is the solution? 

In order to promote healthier diets we need to literally change the food environment: the healthy choice has to become the first and easiest choice. The food industry is not a reliable partner when its profits depend on selling unhealthy products, and industry must not be the one making the decisions. Instead of voluntary commitments, we need a framework of statutory regulations, including but not limited to: 

  • A ban on advertising unhealthy food to children across all channels – television, online and sponsorship – based on WHO guidelines, would help prevent young people from developing harmful food preferences. 
  • An effective levy on sweetened beverages, following the UK's example would provide an incentive for soft drinks companies to reformulate their products. 
  • A ban on the sale of energy drinks to under-18s across the EU, to protect children's health – particularly their cardiovascular health. Six EU member states have already introduced this measure; children in the rest of the EU deserve equal protection. 
  • Mandatory traffic light labelling on the front of all food packages, the so-called “Nutri-Score” based on strict thresholds for sugar, fat and salt, would enable consumers to make informed buying decisions. This measure alone would address the vast majority of UPFs, as 87.5% of ultra-processed products fall into the C to E Nutri-Score categories. 
  • An improvement of EU additives legislation: prohibiting harmful additives such as aspartame; reforming the approval system so that authorisations are based on independent science and subject to regular re-evaluation; and requiring that both the name and the E number of every additive appear on the ingredients list, so consumers can assess what they are eating. 

What is foodwatch doing? 

foodwatch is campaigning for a shift from industry self-regulation to statutory regulation, on marketing, labelling and other food policy measures. Our focus is on policy changes that are tried and tested and proven to work – and making them mandatory across the EU. 

The food industry is deliberately muddying the debate around UPFs – much as the tobacco industry once did with smoking. It has invested billions of euros lobbying against a front-of-pack nutritional label since 2010, attacking independent scientists, producing biased research, blaming consumers, and offering public-private partnerships in place of real regulation. Policymakers must not fall for this. 

foodwatch is also working to provide clarity on what UPFs actually are, cutting through the confusion – and pushing for a food environment in which the healthier choice is the easier choice for everyone.