Michael Searles
Thu, July 16, 2026 at 6:00 AM UTC
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) could be driving about a quarter of heart disease cases and deaths, new research has suggested
Data published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Mexico suggest deaths would fall if people cut their intake of UPFs
The foods, which include ice cream, crisps, white bread, processed meats such as ham, and fizzy drinks, have been linked to poor health
But there is debate over the scale of the effect and the extent to which processing itself is to blame compared with the fact that many UPFs are high in fat, sugar and salt
They also tend to include additives and ingredients that are not used when people cook from scratch, such as preservatives, emulsifiers and artificial colours and flavours
In the UK, 56 per cent of calories on average come from UPFs, rising to 68 per cent in teenagers
These figures are far higher than in comparable European countries such as France and Italy
In the new study, experts, including from the University of Montreal in Canada, used Canadian patient data to look at cardiovascular disease – conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels, cases of heart attack and stroke, plus deaths and disability related to cardiovascular disease
Analysis suggested between 23 per cent and 38 per cent of all heart disease events, such as heart attacks and strokes, in 2019 were attributable to UPF intake
This equates to 58,200 to 96,000 new cases of cardiovascular disease plus 10,600 to 17,400 cardiovascular disease-related deaths, plus disability for thousands of patients
Reducing UPF consumption by 20 per cent to 50 per cent may have prevented 16,800 to 45,900 new cases of heart disease, plus 3,100 to 8,300 heart disease-related deaths, the experts said
The researchers concluded: “These findings reinforce the need for clinical and public health interventions aimed at reducing UPF intake as a key component of cardiovascular disease prevention
“To drive meaningful change in dietary patterns, comprehensive structural measures are essential
“These include regulations on food taxes, front-of-package labelling, marketing restrictions and reformulation targets aimed at improving food quality.”
Some experts criticised the study, saying there was a lack of evidence to show UPFs increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, rather than just eating a poor diet
Limitations of study
Professor Alberto Fiore, from Abertay University in Dundee, noted, however, that the study had severe limitations
“This is a modelling study, not a clinical trial — it does not measure what actually happened to people who ate more or fewer ultra-processed foods
He said it used “a 2015 dietary snapshot” and said there was “a very wide uncertainty range for a number being put in front of the public”
“But the deeper problem is one this study cannot resolve: are we actually measuring the effect of industrial processing, or are we simply measuring the well-known harms of a poor diet that happens to come in a packet?”
He said when the CVD findings were broken down by food subtype, they are “overwhelmingly driven by sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meat products
“These are foods whose harmfulness has been established for decades on purely nutritional grounds — high free sugar, high saturated fat, high sodium, low fibre — with no need to invoke the concept of industrial processing at all.”
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