What Are Ultra-Processed Foods ?
UPF are industrially produced edible substances that are imitations of food . They consist of former foods that have been fractioned into substances , substantially modified , combined with additives , and then reassembled using industrial techniques such as molding , extrusion and pressurization . The practical way to identify UPF is to see if its list of ingredients contains substances that are never or rarely used in home kitchens . If so , the product is UPF .
These substances are alien to prior human experience . They are inventions of modern industrial technology and contain little to no whole food . And science is showing that our bodies are not equipped to handle it .
UPF have been extensively studied in epidemiological research . Large , rigorous , high-quality scientific studies have found that consuming UPF significantly increases the risks of a cornucopia of life changing diseases . The risk of Type 2 Diabetes is one of the most robustly studied effects of UPF . Independent researchers throughout the world have determined that the scientific evidence that UPF increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes is “ convincing ” and that there is a clear link between UPF and a higher risk of Type 2 Diabetes .
Importantly , these scientific studies control for nutrient composition of UPF . In other words , the risks caused by UPF are not solely a function of weight gain or the amount of calories , fat , sugar , salt , carbohydrates , protein or other macronutrients consumed . Instead , UPF cause unique health risks , separate and apart from the nutrient quality of a diet or the weight gain they cause . These risks are further compounded by the poor dietary quality of UPF , and the fact that they are engineered to be overconsumed .
UPF have come to dominate the American food environment and the American diet . The issue is particularly pronounced in children , who now derive over 2 / 3 of their energy from UPF on average .
The explosion and ensuing rise in prevalence of UPF began in the 1980s , and was accompanied by an explosion in obesity , diabetes and other life-changing chronic illnesses . There was not a massive , populationlevel failure of personal responsibility that began in the 1980s . Similarly , the human genome did not undergo a radical transformation beginning in the 1980s . Instead , something else happened in the 1980s .
Turning Our Food Into Cigarettes : Big Tobacco Conquers Our Food Environment
In the 1980s , Big Tobacco took over the American food environment . RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris acquired the largest food companies in the U . S ., including Nabisco , General Foods , Kraft , and others . With multibillion dollar merger after multi-billion dollar merger , these Big Tobacco companies purchased the biggest players in the market , and dominated the U . S . food system for decades .
During this time , the Big Tobacco companies used their cigarette addiction science and scientists to formulate UPF . This included the use of human and rodent electrode studies on the physiological nervous system , satiety , and fMRI analyses of brain and central nervous system activity . The scientists involved in these UPF formulation strategies were the same scientists involved in the companies ’ efforts to make cigarettes more addictive , including Phillip Gullotta , who oversaw a secret Philip Morris addiction laboratory in Germany . In secret tobacco industry documents , Gullotta and others were clear that the purpose of this brain research was not to make UPF more flavorful . For example , Gullotta explained that for the senses of taste , smell and touch : “ none of these matter a didley if you don ’ t have the effects in the brain ”. As a clear example of this , Philip Morris & Kraft conducted joint research into “ drivers of acceptance , mood or satiety / drinkability [ that ] are usually not consciously perceived … but are perceived at the receptor level ( ex . Pheromones )”. In other words , Big Tobacco conducted this research to understand how to hack the physiological structure of the human brain , and override the body ’ s natural mechanisms for resisting UPF .
Because the Big Tobacco food companies were market leaders , other large competitors in the marketplace began to adopt their formulation strategies , including the use of brain scans and studies on the physiological hardware of our central nervous systems . As with their tobacco industry brethren , insiders from other UPF manufacturers have come forward and described the intent of all of this : to design products that are irresistible , addictive , and over-consumed .
There is an emerging scientific consensus that these efforts were successful . On December 5 , 2024 , FDA Commissioner Dr . Robert Califf testified to the U . S . Senate that UPF “ is probably addictive ” and that “ it ’ s the same neural circuits that are involved in
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