According to research presented during the ACC Asia 2025 together with SCS’ 36th Annual Scientific Meeting, which takes place in Singapore from May 9-11, consumption of ultra-processed food, including sugar-sweetened drinks, packaged cookies and potato chips, could be linked with negative health outcomes. The risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, digestive disorders, mortality, and other health outcomes increased for every 100 grams consumed daily.
“Ultra-processed foods are characterized by high sugar, high salt, and other non-nutritive components, exhibiting low nutritional density yet high caloric content,” Xiao Liu MD from the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital at Sun Yat-sen university in Guangzhou said. The systematic review, “These products may contribute to adverse health outcomes through multiple mechanisms, including but not limited to dysregulation of blood lipid profiles, alterations in gut microbiota composition, promotion of obesity, induction of systemic inflammation, exacerbation of oxidative stress and impairment of insulin sensitivity.”
included 41 prospective cohorts spanning Americas, Europe Asia, and Oceania, evaluating the relationship between ultra-processed food and health outcomes before April 2024. The studies included a total 8,286,940 adults aged 18 or older (30.8% men, 69.2% women) from the general public.
The Nova classification system was used in all included studies to classify ultra-processed food as food that is industrially produced from organic or natural ingredients. The products are subjected to a multi-stage process and contain significant amounts of additives such as preservatives and colorants. Researchers say that ultra-processed food includes commercially-produced bread, sweetened drinks, chips, confectionery and candy, cookies in packages, etc.
According to the study ultra-processed foods were associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, digestion diseases, and overall mortality. The study found that each additional 100g/day ultra-processed foods consumption increased the risk for hypertension by 14.5%, cardiovascular events by 5.9%, cancers at 1.2%, digestive disease risk up to 19.5%, and overall mortality risk increased 2.6%. Researchers observed an increased risk for obesity/overweight and metabolic syndromes/diabetes, as well as depression/anxiety.
Researchers used GRADE system for assessing the quality of the evidence in their analysis. GRADE evaluation indicated high-moderate certainty for the majority of outcomes except for low certainty in metabolic syndrome/diabetes.
“Clinicians should clearly explain that ultra-processed foods are typically high in added sugars, sodium, and unhealthy fats, while being low in fiber, essential vitamins, and other protective nutrients. This nutritional imbalance contributes to a wide range of adverse health outcomes,” Liu said. Researchers suggest that governments could implement measures to mitigate health effects and reduce consumption of ultraprocessed food.
Liu suggested that some measures could include stricter food labeling laws, which would require manufacturers to disclose all ingredients, including additives, in their ultra-processed products. Patients should be encouraged to replace ultra-processed foods with healthier, less processed alternatives. Liu says that while the results of the study were limited by the different definitions for ultra-processed food, they are still important. He said that new evidence is linking health benefits with whole foods, simple ingredient, and culturally-appropriate healthy eating patterns, such as Mediterranean or DASH. Further high-quality studies on this subject are needed.
