6/ Ultra Processed Foods

Food Corporations Dominate the Supply Chain

Key messages

Populations across the globe are highly dependent on commercial food systems for daily nourishment.

Commercial food systems rely heavily on high volume sales of foods high in unhealthy ingredients to generate profits and value for shareholders.

Food corporations have exploited the dominant model in nutrition science to shape the way their ultra-processed products are defended, promoted, and regulated.

In 2015 the New York Times revealed that Coca Cola was covertly funding the Global Energy Balance Network based at the University of Colorado, a research network set up to promote the message that all calories are equal.

1/ The network’s aim was to show that sugar sweetened beverages are no more responsible for the rise in obesity levels than any other foods or a lack of physical activity.

2/ In doing so, Coca Cola was copying and adapting the corporate political activities and scientific strategies that have been pioneered and perfected by tobacco, alcohol, and drug companies to defend and promote their products.

What Does Ultra-Processed Food Look Like?

Yes it looks like the food most of us are eating.

Bias in Food Science

One common corporate scientific activity is to fund nutrition studies designed to generate favourable scientific evidence for a company’s products.

However, food corporations are also able to influence nutrition research through the types of nutrition studies they choose not to fund, producing what we might call “not funding” bias.

Public Health Action

People have used food processing to make food safe, palatable, and longer lasting since prehistoric times. However, in the past 100 years industrial techniques have been increasingly used to produce novel ultra-processed food and drink products.

Ultra-processed foods and drinks tend to be highly palatable, convenient, shelf stable, and affordable, and are often marketed in ways that appeal to children. They are foods designed to be "liked" so that sales will be high, and spoilage low.

You can often recognise ultra-processed foods by looking at the list of ingredients. Are there many ingredients? Are there ingredients you don't have at home? Are there ingredients with numbers or scientific names?

Foods that are promoted as "high energy", or "low fat" or "high protein" or "Keto" are often suspect.

Non-communicable disease risk

Evidence is growing that greater consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases.

Several prospective cohort studies have also reported associations between ultra-processed food consumption and obesity, type II diabetes, some cancers, heart disease, and even mental health.

Commercial food systems, diet, and health

The commercial food system delivers largely affordable food to whole populations and has become vital to national economies, providing considerable employment and contribution to export trade.

Commercial food systems must, therefore, be considered one of the most important influences on population health globally.

Food processing, and associated marketing, adds value to raw ingredients and is a key driver of profits for the commercial food system. Large, and especially publicly listed, food companies operate in an economic environment that demands continual growth of profits.

Dietary risks are among the greatest predictors of disease burden, leading to increased incidence and mortality from non-communicable diseases.

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Next Topic: Topic 7/ Dr David Unwin and Prof Ben Bikman

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