Ultra-processed food: researchers sound the alarm
Obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease - according to the latest scientific findings, the consumption of UPFs significantly increases the risk of such diseases. In the latest edition of The Lancet, scientists call for action to promote a diet based on minimally processed fresh food. Commentators discuss where the problems lie and how they might be addressed.
A lucrative business
Individuals are not to blame, insists medic and diabetes specialist Şükrü Hatun in T24:
“The rise in ultra processed foodstuffs in the human diet has nothing to do with people's lack of willpower or sense of responsibility, but is rooted in the increasing economic and political power of the ultra processed food industry. ... Key to understanding the expansion of this industry is the higher profit margin afforded by these products, compared with other food. The concentration of profits within particular companies and industries produces structural change in capitalist economies, which increasingly pushes food systems toward ultra processed products.”
School meals are UPF all the way
The Irish Examiner is disgusted by the amount of UPFs in school meals:
“In the majority of Irish hot school meals pre-packed and prepared meat is bought in by companies, a sauce is pre-bought, the sauce is stirred through the meat. The mixture is scooped into take-away packaging and heated within this packaging. Children then eat out of the take-away container a few hours later, after the meal is driven, often long distances, to their school. A hot meal like this is high on the Nova scale [classification system for processed food] - it lacks nutrition, is not good for the environment and it has brought little or no benefit to the local economy and farming community.”
No point in a blanket ban
One should differentiate when it comes to processed foods, advises The Irish Times:
“Avoiding processed foods is a luxury requiring cost, time and know-how that only some can afford. ... Rather than demonise processed foods we should work together to make foods on our shelves as healthy as possible, including through proven reformulation programmes targeting nutrients such as sugar, fat and salt. ... Is food processing bad for you? No, but some processed foods are, and some not – likely due to nutrient content, not whether they were made in a factory.”
Restrict the power of the food industry
The authors of the Lancet paper made a crucial point, Die Zeit explains:
“To weaken the oligopolistic structure of the food industry, political measures must be taken. ... Politicians in Germany are unaccustomed to putting pressure on the food industry. Other countries are far more advanced in this respect: Denmark and the UK have long since introduced a sugar tax, while in Brazil food products with high levels of saturated fat, sugar or salt have warning labels. The Lancet's intentions are therefore warranted and important, and they apply to Germany in particular: we need a food policy that is independent of the food industry.”
Prevent a health crisis
Measures taken by individual countries can only be the beginning, El País insists:
“Spain has banned highly processed foods in school canteens. In Mexico, where one in three children is overweight and 16 percent of adults have diabetes, the government has banned the sale of junk food in educational institutions. In Chile, companies are obliged to include warnings in their advertising and advise against consuming these products. ... But if we want to prevent this public health risk from turning into a crisis, further measures are needed. And both manufacturers, who spend millions on advertising and want to prevent regulations, and governments, which monitor sales and distribution, must assume responsibility for this.”
Take the fight against the tobacco industry as an example
In view of the immense costs to society, politicians need to take tough action, Le Monde argues:
“The solution lies first and foremost in improving access to healthy foods, coupled with higher taxes on junk food. In addition, advertising and marketing for food products with poor nutritional profiles, particularly if it targets children, must be more strictly regulated. So far such solutions have met with strong opposition in France. It's an uphill battle given the enormous resources available to multinational food companies. They use the same methods that the tobacco industry used for decades, discrediting scientific discourse and not hesitating to produce its own blatantly biased studies.”