Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Cancer Risks

Ultra-processed food is cheap, mass-produced and hyper-palatable ready-to-eat food. It includes packaged snacks, sugary drinks, bread, confectioneries, ready-made meals and processed meats. 

It is known that ultra-processed food consumption is associated with an increased rate of mortality. Consumption of this food has significantly increased in the Western world, especially the USA, Australia, UK and New Zealand. The French government has developed a policy aiming to decrease ultra-processed food consumption. Possibly the New Zealand government should do the same. 

People from the lower socioeconomic class have vast amounts of ultra-processed food in their diet. Therefore they are at risk of an earlier death, which is also avoidable.

One of the factors is that ultra-processed food has higher salt and sugar content and includes low fibre content. Consumption of such food is also associated with increased risk of cancer. 

We often don’t know all the ingredients contained in processed foods or what byproducts of high-temperature processing they were subjected to. Another factor is the food packaging materials and their impact on the food. Some chemicals like bisphenol-A are known to have endocrine-disrupting properties.

A French study published recently has shown that there is a definite connection between increased consumption of ultra-processed food and more significant mortality rate. Majority of French people in this study consumed around 14% of ultra-processed food in their diet only. 

Every 10% increase of ultra-processed foods in a person’s diet contributes to a 14% increase of their death risk, a 2% increase in overall cancer risk and 11% increase in breast cancer risk. These are huge numbers! 

A New Zealand study has shown that ultra-processed food makes up 85% of New Zealand supermarket food isles. I am struggling to find a study that shows how much of ultra-processed food we, New Zealanders, consume. However, I think it is likely to be more than what people consumed in the French study.

I believe we need to encourage people to eat more unprocessed food, cook at home, exercise and keep their weight on a healthy level. A healthy lifestyle and balanced diet reduces cancer risk and improves the quality of life as well as reduces the need for taking medications.