Hannah Firment
Food availability and quality is a topic that impacts us all and is heavily impacted
by current socioeconomic and geographic barriers to fresh food. Facing this modern
dilemma, Melissa Lane et al dive into an umbrella review of health outcomes associated with
processed food in their article, “Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes:
umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses”. The ultra-processed foods discussed in
this article are defined by the Nova food classification system as foods that are
“formulated mostly or entirely from substances extracted from foods or derived from food
constituents...by use of many types of additive” [1]. These foods would
include things like potato chips, instant soups, cereals, and carbonated drinks.
This study found direct associations between these ultra-processed foods and 32 different health parameters. These factors included mortality, cancer, and mental, respiratory,
cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and metabolic adverse health outcomes [2]. The
strongest associations supported correlations with cardiovascular disease-related mortality,
type 2 diabetes, anxiety outcomes, and combined common mental disorder outcomes. This
suggests a widespread source of health inequality between communities with different access
to fresh food. The findings of this study suggest a need for public health initiatives to reduce
the production of ultra-processed foods in order to reduce these adverse health outcomes as
well as additional research into these effects. This also gives us a greater reason to eliminate
food deserts where access to fresh food is limited and unaffordable.
References:
Monteiro C, Cannon G, Lawrence M, Louzada ML, Machado P. FAO. Ultra-processed foods, diet quality, and health using the NOVA classification system. Published online August 1, 2019.
Lane MM, Gamage E, Du S, Ashtree DN, McGuinness AJ, Gauci S, Baker P, Lawrence M, Rebholz CM, Srour B, Touvier M, Jacka FN, O'Neil A, Segasby T, Marx W. Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ. 2024 Feb 28;384:e077310. doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-077310.
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