More evidence needed to support policies against ultra-processed foods

BOSTON — There isn’t enough evidence to support policy or clinical decisions against eating ultra-processed foods, according to research presented at NUTRITION.

Speaking to Healio, Richard D. Mattes, MPH, PhD, RD, a professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at Purdue University, noted that policies should ideally have evidence from three types of data: epidemiological studies, randomized controlled trials and mechanistic studies.

“There is an abundance of epidemiological evidence showing, very convincingly, that there is an association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity,” Mattes said. “It’s small, with an effect size ranging from about 2% to 50%, but with an average of about a 20% increase in risk.”

Despite the positive association, “it’s actually not stronger than the association we’ve seen documented for things like exercise and education level and many other factors that have been associated with obesity risk,” Mattes explained.

He also noted that there is only one randomized controlled trial in this area and existing mechanistic studies lack sufficient evidence.

“Ultimately, we have an intriguing hypothesis that ultra-processed foods are particularly problematic for obesity risk, but at present an insufficient evidence base to make policy or even clinical decisions,” he said.

Reference:

• Higgins K, et al. Ultra-processed foods: current challenges and future directions. Submitted to: NUTRITION; July 22-25, 2023; Boston.
  

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American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting