UPFs… the hidden dangers in your food
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They’re in our fridges, freezers, cupboards and takeaways. In fact, according to studies, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) make up 53% of people’s average energy intake. And now experts warn they could lead to early death. But what exactly are processed foods?
Steve Bennett, health coach and founder of the Fibre First Movement, says: ‘Ultra-processed foods aren't just processed, they're industrially manufactured products that bear little resemblance to their original ingredients. Think of it this way: if your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, it's probably ultra-processed. The classification system, developed by Brazilian researchers, defines ultra-processed foods as industrial formulations made from substances derived from foods, plus additives.
‘Ultra-processed food has shelf-lives measured in years, not days. That should terrify you.’
‘These aren't foods with ingredients added, they're ingredients assembled to look like food. We're talking about products that require industrial machinery and chemical processes that you couldn't replicate in your kitchen. The key difference? Real food spoils. Ultra-processed food has shelf-lives measured in years, not days. That should terrify you.’
Advanced Dietician Mike Sweeney, who works at the Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust says: ‘Companies pump these foods full of weird stuff to make them taste better, look prettier, feel different in your mouth, or last forever on the shelf. We're talking about ingredients with names you can barely pronounce - like high fructose corn syrup (which is just fancy processed sugar) or methyl-cellulose (which is an E number combined with fibre). Basically, if you can't imagine having it in your kitchen cabinet, it's probably in a UPF food.’
If they LOOK good, why are they so dangerous?
Dr Sammie Gill, Registered Dietitian and BDA Media Spokesperson says: UPFs often contain added fat, sugar, salt, as well as additives such as preservatives, flavourings, emulsifiers, colourings and sweeteners. It’s more likely to be an UPF if it contains more than five ingredients.
‘Many UPFs are nutritionally unbalanced. They are also highly palatable and easy to over-consume at the expense of nutritious foods, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, fish and dairy.
Steve Bennett adds: ‘These products contain ingredients that sound more like a chemistry experiment than food. The most insidious part? These chemicals work synergistically. We're not just dealing with individual toxins – we're looking at chemical cocktails that interact in ways we're only beginning to understand.
‘Castoreum –that "natural vanilla flavouring" in your ice cream? It might actually be secretions from a beaver's anal glands. Beavers mark their territory with castoreum, and food manufacturers harvest this for flavouring because it's technically "natural."
‘Shellac (E904) – this glossy coating on your sweets and pills comes from the secretions of the female lac bug. These insects excrete a resin that's harvested, processed, and used to make your sweets shine.
‘Carmine/Cochineal Extract (E120) – that beautiful red colour in your strawberry yogurt or pink cupcakes? It's made from crushing thousands of female cochineal insects. These bugs are dried and ground up to create the red dye. Vegetarians and vegans are unknowingly consuming insects every day.’
Addictive combination
Mike Sweeney adds: ‘These foods are literally engineered to hook you. And get this: the exact same scientists who figured out how to make cigarettes insanely addictive? Yeah, they did the same thing in the food industry in the 1980’s. They've cracked the code on what makes your brain go "MORE, MORE, MORE!"
‘Whether it's that perfect combo of fat, sugar, and salt that hits like a drug, or some sketchy flavour enhancer with a 20-letter name, Big Food has been playing puppet master with your taste buds for decades. They know exactly what they're doing.
‘Recent studies show that when people eat ultra-processed foods, they automatically scarf down an extra 500 calories a day without even realizing it. That's not willpower failing you - that's billion-dollar companies literally rewiring your brain to keep you coming back for more. Never forget: the food industry's priority is to make profit whilst your priority is to be healthy.’
So are they really one of the WORST things for our health?
Steve Bennett says yes – and they can encourage cancer: ‘My good friend Dr. Isabella Cooper's groundbreaking research on ketogenic diets and cancer has revealed something crucial about the relationship between processed foods and cancer development. Her work demonstrates that cancer cells preferentially feed on glucose and ultra-processed foods create the perfect environment for this to happen.
‘Here's the mechanism: Ultra-processed foods cause rapid spikes in blood glucose and insulin levels. Cancer cells have far more insulin receptors than normal cells, making them incredibly efficient at utilising this glucose. Essentially, every time you consume ultra-processed foods, you're potentially feeding any cancer cells in your body.’
He adds: ‘The data is staggering. Studies show that people consuming the highest amounts of ultra-processed foods have a 12% increased risk of cancer overall, with breast cancer risk increasing by 11%. But this isn't just correlation, we now understand the biological mechanisms driving this relationship.’
Mike Sweeney says: ‘Not only that but ultra processed foods tend to be lower in vitamins and minerals. These are things your body needs in small amounts to function properly. For example, without calcium your bones wouldn’t be strong, iron carries oxygen around your blood and without it you’ll feel tired, potassium helps your muscles and nerves work properly and magnesium helps you relax.
‘Well, ultra processed foods are usually low or deficient in these vitamins and minerals. In fact, people who eat more ultra processed foods have low intakes of protein, potassium, zinc, magnesium, vitamins A, C, D, E, B12 and niacin.
‘So, all in all, this is partly why you can be eating plenty of calories but still feeling very tired - because your body isn’t getting the microscopic things it needs to function properly.
‘This is why ultra processed foods are directly linked to 32 health problems like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, anxiety etc. So, the more ultra processed food you eat the worse your health will be. In fact, a recent study stated that a sub optimal diet is the leading cause of death worldwide.’
Depression in females
Milli Hill is the author of the book Ultra Processed Women and says: ‘Middle aged women on high UPF diets 50% more likely to develop depression. The study that found this found a strong association with depression and artificial sweeteners, but they don't know why - could be inflammation, could be microbiome... Several other studies have found associations between UPF and depression.
‘One striking piece of research is the SMILEs trial where people who already had depression (and 70% were female) changed their diets away from UPF and towards whole foods and a third of participants met the criteria for remission.’
She adds that a 2024 British Medical Journal found that a diet high in UPF was associated with ‘22% increased risk of depression.’
Regarding pregnancy, she says: ‘I was really struck by some of the pregnancy risks, particularly considering how much pregnant women's diets are policed. But no mention of UPFs.
‘A collaboration between Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research and the University of Birmingham in 2023, looked at the data from over 63,000 women and found that a diet high in UPF was associated with double the risk of miscarriage – but that a high intake of fruit and vegetables saw a similar risk reduction.’
She adds that there’s evidence UPFs affect our brains for example by shrinking an area called the hippocampus, that deals with memory and emotion.
‘This could be why we get stuck in a negative cycle of choosing the 'wrong' sorts of foods repeatedly. We often find when we eat them that they don't actually give us the enjoyment we expected - but then we reach for them again. It's possible that the more we eat the less able we are to make those positive choices, because our brain is unable to deliver the reminders we need not to partake in these foods or regulate our appetite.’
Do UPFs cause obesity?
Steve Bennett says: ‘The obesity epidemic isn't about people suddenly losing willpower en masse. It's about biochemistry being hijacked by food engineering.
‘Ultra-processed foods are designed to override your natural satiety signals. Food scientists employ teams of chemists and neurobiologists to create what they call "bliss points”, precise combinations of sugar, fat, and salt that trigger dopamine release in your brain, creating genuine addiction patterns.
‘These foods are stripped of fibre, the nutrient that naturally regulates blood sugar and signals fullness. Without fibre, you get massive insulin spikes followed by crashes that trigger intense cravings. It's a biochemical roller coaster designed to keep you coming back for more.
‘Research from the National Institutes of Health proved this conclusively. When people ate ultra-processed foods, they consumed 500 more calories per day compared to whole foods, not through choice, but through biological compulsion.’
And Dr Sammie Gill adds: ‘Growing evidence suggests a higher consumption of UPFs is linked with poorer health. The vast majority of research investigating the health impact of UPFs comes from observational studies. UPFs have been linked to over 30 negative health outcomes including cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and mental health disorders. Lab and animal studies have shown that some emulsifiers - such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), polysorbate 80 (P80) and carrageenan - can have harmful effects on the gut microbiome.
‘Although further research is needed to confirm if these effects translate to real-world health outcomes in people. Observational studies show a link between some types of emulsifiers and development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Several lab and animal studies show that some emulsifiers can increase gut inflammation.’
But she adds that UPF doesn’t always mean bad (although it does most of the time): ‘The most widely used UPF definition is the NOVA food classification system but it’s not without limitations. For example, NOVA takes into account the level of processing but doesn’t consider the nutritional content of foods. So while many UPFs are energy dense and nutrient poor, not all UPFs are ‘bad’ for health.
‘For example, wholegrain bread, baked beans, and fish fingers can be classified as UPFs, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat them or include them in your diet.’
What else do they do to us?
Steve Bennett says they don’t just make us fat, they have a neurological impact, cause hormonal disruption and cause confusion in our immune systems, too.
‘These foods cross the blood-brain barrier, contributing to brain fog, depression, and potentially neurodegenerative diseases. The high levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formed during processing literally age your brain faster. Many processing chemicals are endocrine disruptors, interfering with everything from thyroid function to reproductive hormones.
‘This explains why we're seeing unprecedented rates of hormonal imbalances in younger populations. The constant inflammatory signals from ultra-processed foods put your immune system in a perpetual state of alert, contributing to autoimmune conditions and allergies. The oxidative stress from these chemical cocktails literally accelerates cellular aging. You're not just shortening your life; you’re reducing the quality of the years you have.’
What about people on a budget?
Mike Sweeney says: ‘This is the main thing that holds most people back because unfortunately, UPF type foods are cheaper. I do think this is a case of how you frame it though. So UPF food is cheaper financially now but you’re paying with your health down the road. Is it really worth saving money now when in 10yrs you could be struggling with diabetes, depression, anxiety etc? It really depends what kind of life you want to be living in the future.
‘That said, sometimes it’s not possible for financial reasons. So, don’t aim to be perfect, just aim to be better. At the moment 60-70% of the calories consumed by the average person are from UPF foods. If you cut that down to 40% that would be a positive change forward. Also, many of your favourite foods can be made fresh to avoid a lot of the industrial nasties that are added.’
‘For example, if you love bread then make your own. If you love ice cream, then make your own. It’s not hard, the internet is full of recipes and at least you’re in full control. It can even be an enjoyable family-type activity if you have children.’
Steve Bennett adds: ‘The solution isn't complicated, but it requires us to reject the food industry's lies. Read labels. If you can't pronounce an ingredient, don't eat it. If it has more than five ingredients, question whether it's actually food.
‘We're not just fighting for better health – we're fighting for our right to real food in a world increasingly dominated by industrial food-like products. The stakes couldn't be higher, and the choice couldn't be clearer. The question isn't whether ultra-processed foods are harming us, the evidence is overwhelming.
‘The question is whether we'll continue allowing profit-driven corporations to prioritize their bottom line over our biology. For me, the answer is clear: it's time to take back control of our health, one real meal at a time.’
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