Consuming ‘ultra-processed’ foods may increase your likelihood of cancer, a new study has suggested.
An investigation into the eating habits of more than 100,000 people found that an increase of 10% in the level of processed food consumed resulted in a 12% greater risk of developing cancer.
The study, by French researchers at the Universite Sorbonne Paris Cite, classified ‘ultra-processed’ food as mass-produced foodstuffs such as fizzy drinks, packaged breads and snacks, instant noodles and ready meals – to name but a few.
It said almost 20% of people’s diets were comprised of ultra-processed foods. While this may be true for France, it is far higher in the UK.
A recent report by the international journal of Public Health Nutrition found that more than half (50.7%) of UK household’s food purchases were ultra-processed. The equivalent figure for France was 14.2%.
France is one of the only countries who already explicitly advises its population against the consumption of highly processed products.
‘This dietary trend may be concerning and deserves investigation. Several characteristics of ultra-processed foods may be involved in causing disease,’ said the authors of the French study.
The study examined the dietary patterns of 104,980 French adults who had an average age of 43. After 5 years, they were asked whether they had had a cancer diagnosis, with their answers being compared to previous medical records.
The authors found an ‘association’ between the consumption of ultra-processes foods and an increased risk of cancer. No link was found between lesser processed foods, such as canned foods and cheese, and cancer.
‘These results suggest that the rapidly increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades,’ they said.
Much caution, however, is being expressed in relation to the study’s findings.
There are a number of reasons why the study’s findings are inconclusive. First, it cannot definitely say that consuming ultra-processed foods is a cause of cancer. Second, those who consume such food types are often guilty of other habits, such as smoking, inactivity and excessive eating.
The researchers admitted that such factors ‘cannot be entirely excluded’.
Prof Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK's prevention expert, said: ‘It's already known that eating a lot of these foods can lead to weight gain, and being overweight or obese can also increase your risk of cancer, so it's hard to disentangle the effects of diet and weight.’
Others have said that the term ‘ultra-processed’ is too vague.
‘The problem is that the definition of ultra-processed foods they have used is so broad and poorly defined that it is impossible to decide exactly what, if any, causal connections have been observed,’ Dr Ian Johnson, of the Quadram Institute in Norwich, told the BBC.
Prof Tom Sanders from King’s College London agreed: ‘This classification seems arbitrary and based on the premise that food produced industrially has a different nutritional and chemical composition from that produced in the home or by artisans. This is not the case.’
The authors of the study acknowledged such shortcomings and argued for other ‘large-scale’ studies to confirm the link.