2w ago

Brazilian study links ultraprocessed foods to early death

www.dw.com

Brazilian study links ultraprocessed foods to early death – DW – 04/28/2025

An investigation by one of Brazil's leading health research institutes has linked high intakes of ultra processed foods to greater rates of premature death.

For some countries like the US and United Kingdom, as many as 1 in 7 deaths could be attributed to ultraprocessed food consumption.

The study led by researchers from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, based in Rio de Janeiro, analyzed data from eight countries, including nationally representative dietary surveys and mortality data.

10 comments

Not exactly surprising, but it's good to see research on this.
- Not exactly surprising
  Exactly, because normally ultra processed food contain many free radicals like those mentioned in this Nature 2025 article, but also in this 1995 publication
  
  Edit: I made a joke about the free radicals being a good band name if it wasn’t taken but I was thinking of Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals.
  We at this account regret the error and everyone involved has been catapulted as punishment for the faux pas. May we have the strength, fortitude, and cunning to make it back to shore.

The four groups used by this Nova classification system are:
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods, which can include whole foods, fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, eggs and milk.
Processed culinary ingredients, which can include certain condiments, oils, salts and sugars.
Processed foods, which can include preserved and tinned fruits and vegetables, preserved meat products, breads, fresh cheese and
Ultraprocessed foods are those that undergo industrial processing and modification using food derived substances such as fats, starches and proteins, and may include coloring, flavor enhancing chemicals and preservatives. These include chocolates, soda and energy drinks, pre-packaged meals, baked products and pastries, certain breakfast cereals, sweetened yogurts and juices.
Ultraprocessed foods — sometimes abbreviated to UPFs — are often referred to as "junk foods,"which should be consumed sparingly.
Okay, but these are largely just foods with high salt and sugar content. And high levels of salt/sugar are used for the two-fold benefit of increasing consumption and longer shelf-life.
Nothing in the article, but I'd be willing to bet the same people who eat heavily preserved foods are the ones living in food deserts and other areas that lack affordable fresh produce, adequate kitchen amenities for home cooking, and clean drinking water.
In short - poor people.
- It is more than that. In previous studies from the authors they have controlled for the nutritional content and the processing and found that the content itself, so carbs fats etc, have a certain amount of causal influence on health, but the processing also has a separate and significant effect. Just having less processing seems to have a meaningful effect. This means less of the additives like milk powder, xanthan gum, sweeteners, flavourings, extracts, and so on. The exact mechanism seems to vary depending on the specific case, but separating components of food and then remixing them as well as adding non food components and processing with heat and pressure seems to make these things no longer digestible and safe.