Ultra-processed foods commonly found in everyday life — such as fried chicken, snacks, candy and ready-to-eat meals — cause more premature deaths than smoking, a British doctor has warned. Multiple studies have confirmed that ultra-processed food consumption is linked to more than 32 health problems, including cardiovascular disease, depression and fatty liver disease.
Chris van Tulleken, a UK infectious disease specialist and author of the book *Ultra-Processed People*, said ultra-processed foods are "extremely harmful to health" and have "surpassed smoking as a leading cause of premature death," according to British outlet The Mirror on Sunday.
"These are foods we commonly eat in everyday life," he said, adding that "the problem is particularly pronounced among lower-income groups."
Ultra-processed foods are products that contain large amounts of food additives such as artificial sweeteners, preservatives and colorings, and have been industrially processed and modified. Common examples include fried chicken, snacks, candy and instant meals.
A large-scale French cohort study published in 2019 found that every 10 percentage point increase in ultra-processed food consumption raised overall mortality risk by approximately 14%. A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also showed that every 10 percentage point increase in calories from ultra-processed foods lowered cardiovascular health scores by approximately 0.13 points.
An international research team including Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted a meta-analysis of 14 papers published over three years, covering approximately 10 million participants. The results showed that higher ultra-processed food consumption was associated with approximately 50% greater risk of cardiovascular death and 48% to 53% greater risk of anxiety and mental disorders. The study was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Threats to mental health have also been confirmed. A research team at Florida Atlantic University analyzed 10,359 individuals aged 18 and older and found that those who derived more than 80% of their daily intake from ultra-processed foods had a 1.81 times higher risk of depression compared with those consuming less than 20%.
South Korea is no exception. According to the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the share of ultra-processed foods in Koreans' total energy intake rose from 23.1% in 2010–2012 to 26.1% in 2016–2018. A study by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health found that every 10 percentage point increase in ultra-processed food consumption raised the risk of moderate or severe fatty liver disease in obese children and adolescents by 1.37 times and insulin resistance risk by 1.3 times.
Experts emphasize that rather than cutting out ultra-processed foods entirely, gradually reducing their share of one's diet is a more realistic and sustainable approach.
