Ultra-Processed Foods: Convenience at a Cost?

What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

To avoid confusion between consumer perceptions and the food industry’s framing of UPFs, Brazilian researchers developed the NOVA framework in 2009. This framework places foods into four groups based on the extent and purpose of processing. Ultra-Processed Foods are categorised under group 4, as industrial formulations made from food components and including additives like emulsifiers, hydrogenated oils, synthetic colours, texture improvers or flavour enhancers. As a result, UPFs are often calorie-dense, low in fibre and contain little to no healthy nutrients. Classic examples of UPFs include sugary soft drinks, packaged biscuits, instant noodles and reconstituted meat products.

What Are The Advantages Of Ultra-Processed Foods For The Food Industry?

UPF sales have been consistently increasing or remained high in most countries, with the US leading consumption rankings. There, UPFs account for 58% of daily calories.¹Ultraprocessed Foods Account for More than Half of Calories Consumed at Home. (2024, 10 décembre). Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/ultraprocessed-foods-account-for-more-than-half-of-calories-consumed-at-home But why are UPFs so popular you may ask? We identified four main reasons:

1. Convenience: engineered with preservatives and stabilizers, UPFs do not need refrigeration while staying fresh for extended periods of time, require low to no-preparation and are often designed for on-the-go consumption. This makes them ideal candidates in a modern word defined by time scarcity.
2. Affordability: mass production and cost-efficient ingredients makes UPFs cheaper than fresh or minimally-processed alternatives and therefore accessible to lower-income consumers seeking budget-friendly convenience.
3. Desirability: UPFs are engineered to maximize sensory appeal (taste, texture, etc.) and offer a consistent and predictable experience every time. With optimized combinations of fat, sugar and salt and amplified taste thanks to flavor enhancers, UPFs are highly palatable and can trigger strong dopamine responses leading to the overriding of natural satiety cues. Extensive advertisement and in-store promotions also contribute to making UPFs highly visible and culturally desirable.
4. Technological innovation: novel emulsifiers, texturising agents and high-pressure processing allow manufacturers to mimic the mouthfeel of freshly-baked or cooked foods at scale – widening product ranges and sustaining consumer interest.

The Potential Health Risks Of Ultra-Processed Foods

While the link between diet and health has historically been considered from a nutrient-based perspective, the potential health effect of food formulation and processing is now also widely researched. Since 2015, more than 70 epidemiological studies have emerged around the world supporting the link between the consumption of ultra-foods and increased risks of diseases.²Lane, M. M., Gamage, E., Du, S., Ashtree, D. N., McGuinness, A. J., Gauci, S., Baker, P., Lawrence, M., Rebholz, C. M., Srour, B., Touvier, M., Jacka, F. N., O’Neil, A., Segasby, T., & Marx, W. (2024). Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes : umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ, e077310. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-077310 People with high UPF consumption were at higher risks of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. Links have also been made to higher prevalence of several cancers, inflammatory bowel disease and even depression.

Factors behind these well-established links between high UPF consumption and adverse health effects include:

• UPFs deliver poorer nutrient quality (e.g. more added sugar, refined grains, saturated fat and sodium) than minimally-processed nutritious foods like fruit and vegetables.
• Extensive food processing can produce potentially toxic compounds (e.g. furans, heterocyclic amins, acrylamide). Their long shelf-life may also lead to increased contaminant migration (e.g. phthalates, bisphenols) from contact packaging.
• The consumption of food additives like sweeteners, preservatives and emulsifiers may have detrimental health effects.
• Changes to the food matrix during processing tend to affect satiety, digestibility and nutrient bioavailability, leading to overconsumption and high energy intake.

However, precise factors associated with disease risks and their causal mechanisms have not been fully elucidated yet and research is ongoing. Moreover, claims of potential residual confounding have been made: people with diets high in UPFs may tend to also have less healthy lifestyles and be from lower socio-economic groups, contributing to poorer health outcomes observed. However, links between UPF consumption and health risks cannot fully be explained by residual confounding, as suggested by the consistency of findings observed across epidemiological studies that carefully controlled for additional factors (lifestyle, socio-economy).

Ultra-Processed Foods: Challenges And Implications For The Food Industry

As evidence grows linking ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to poor health outcomes like obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, coordinated action from governments, public health bodies, and the food industry is urgently needed to reduce exposure and deepen understanding of underlying mechanisms. Easier said than done.

While the NOVA classification system is widely used, it has faced criticism for its broad categorisation and subjective criteria, leading to disagreements among scientists, regulators, and industry stakeholders. This definitional ambiguity has complicated consumer education, food labeling, and regulatory frameworks.

Despite efforts being made to limit UPF consumption, like warning label implementation (e.g. Chile), taxation (e.g. UK Soft Drinks Industry levy on foods high in sugar) and food policy restrictions (e.g. bans of UPFs in schools and hospitals), they often fall short, especially in low-income communities, where affordability and accessibility leave few alternatives.

To move forward, reform efforts must go beyond defining UPFs. A shift in the broader food system is essential: regulation and policies should maximise efforts towards increasing the availability, affordability and accessibility of nutritious minimally processed-foods, while restricting UPFs. This has major implications for the food industry: reformulating products without sacrificing shelf stability, taste, price or profit margins, or in other words to maintain convenience but not at the cost of long-term health.

Some scientists claim that evidence for the negative effects of UPFs on human health should be taken with a pinch of salt, over a degree of residual confounding which may be present.

Thanks to convenience, affordability and sensory appeal, UPFs are integral to modern food systems. However, mounting research has linked high UPF consumption to a range of chronic diseases, sparking calls for stronger regulation, clearer definitions, and systemic reform. Shifting toward a healthier food environment will require joint efforts from policymakers, industry, and public health bodies – not only to limit harmful products but also to make nutritious, minimally processed foods accessible to all. The challenge ahead lies in rethinking convenience, not rejecting it. Alcimed can support you, don’t hesitate to contact our team!

About the author:

Candice, Consultant in Alcimed’s Agri-Food team in France.