Ultra-processed foods are becoming dominant in our diets, causing a surge in diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and depression, say a group of researchers, including one from NZ.
The scientists publishing in The Lancet argue that these foods are often sold by major global corporations with great political influence, and policy changes such as increased food labelling, marketing restrictions and taxes are urgently needed to tackle this takeover.
The Science Media Centre asked experts to comment.
Professor Boyd Swinburn, Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health, University of Auckland; and co-author of one of The Lancet papers, comments:
“In Aotearoa, New Zealand, it is likely that consumption of ultra-processed food is around 50 to 60 percent of the nation’s diet, similar to other high-income, English-speaking countries. The actual figure is not known, because New Zealand has not had a nutrition survey in adults for 18 years and in children for 23 years. We do know that unhealthy diets and obesity are our biggest risk factor for disease and death in New Zealand, and this is driven by our high intake of ultra-processed foods. So, we really need to face the issue, measure the intake with a national food survey, and take steps to reduce the intake from that high level.
“In Aotearoa New Zealand, we really need policies to create healthier food environments if we want to make a difference to our increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, and mental health problems. Many countries are taking serious action on ultra-processed foods, especially across Latin America, and they are getting results.
“The Ministry of Health is currently revising New Zealand dietary guidelines for children and youth and they need to include recommendations on ultra-processed foods. The free school lunches for 25 percent of children, through the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme, have to meet nutrition guidelines, but, in the rest of the schools, ultra-processed foods are frequently on the menu or in the tuck shop. The existing regulations which require schools to promote healthy foods should be extended to the provision of food – the canteen should match the curriculum.
“Many countries have mandatory warning labels showing foods high in fat, sugar and salt and New Zealand should follow suit. Half the world has taxes on sugary drinks – New Zealand needs a UK-style Sugary Drinks Industry Levy with the funding going towards the efforts of communities and local food growers to provide inexpensive healthy foods.
“Ultra-processed foods are harmful products and their marketing to children should be banned – New Zealand has the second highest rate of child obesity in the OECD, yet no policies to address this. It is important to look beyond the ultra-processed foods themselves and into the high profit system that drives their production and promotion. Ultra-processed food corporations are highly expert at manipulating cheap ingredients and industrial additives into hyperpalatable foods, exploiting consumers with sophisticated marketing, and turning poorer neighbourhoods into swamps of fast food.”
Conflict of interest statement: Prof Swinburn is an author of one of the three papers comprising The Lancet’s Series.
Dr Kelly Garton, Senior Research Fellow, Dept of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, comments:
“My research investigates the political economy of the ultra-processed food ‘system’ here in Aotearoa, to try to determine why ultra-processed foods (UPF) are so dominant, despite our general collective knowledge that these food and drinks aren’t very good for us. We know that these products are cheap to buy, and highly convenient—which influence what we eat given our high and increasing cost of living, and people working hard to make ends meet—but they are also aggressively marketed to us, most often in ways and settings we cannot control.
“International trade is also bringing more UPF and their inputs into the NZ food system each year. My latest project* tracked trade in food and food ingredients into and out of NZ over the last 35 years. I’ve seen that the proportion of our food and drink imports that are ultra-processed has increased substantially over this period, from about 9% in 1990 to about 22% in 2023, with particular growth (in volume per capita) in sweetened drinks and the sweeteners used to produce these and other UPF in NZ.
“New Zealand does not have the strong regulations that are needed to curb the supply and demand for UPF and create healthier food environments. We need comprehensive and mandatory restriction on the marketing of UPF and their brands, and we need fiscal policies that help shift affordability toward healthier options. The policy packages implemented by many countries in Latin America are a great example. For instance, Mexico was one of the first countries to tax sugary drinks, and its success has inspired more than 50 countries worldwide to follow suit. Mexico also has mandatory warning labels on foods high in sugar, salt, fats, calories, and/or containing artificial sweeteners; the country has strong restrictions on how these products can be marketed, and has banned the sale and distribution of UPF in schools as of this year.”
* Garton K, da Cruz G & Swinburn B. Research article under review, presented at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) HOPE Meeting, Yokohama, Japan, 11/03/2025
No conflict of interest.
Associate Professor: Kathryn Bradbury, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, comments:
“The Nova system was developed in Brazil and within this system foods are categorised as ultra-processed based on the presence and assessed purpose of industrial additives. Many of the ultra-processed food products are what we think of as typical ‘junk food’ – potato chips and other savoury snacks, biscuits, soft drinks, and confectionary. However, some food products, including yoghurts and mass-produced packaged bread are classified as ultra-processed, even though they are often relatively low in fat, sugar, and energy, and wholegrain bread is high in fibre. Mass-produced packaged bread is a food staple in New Zealand and several other ‘Western’ countries – contributing about a third of our energy intake. Thus, it is difficult to see how including recommendations to avoid ultra-processed food would be useful or warranted in these settings.
“This Lancet Series does not represent the broad range of views held by public health nutrition scientists on the ultra-processed food concept, many of whom question the relevance, usefulness, and value of using this concept in public health policy, particularly in other countries and settings.
“In New Zealand, as in many other countries, we lack effective food and nutrition policies to improve population health. What is holding us back from making real progress on improving population diets is not that we need to apply a new concept to help us define what ‘junk food’ is, but that we need political will and action to introduce policies that will improve the health of our population. These policies include a mandatory restriction of marketing of unhealthy food to children, elimination of industrial-trans fat from our food supply, a tax on sugary drinks, mandatory limits on the salt content of packaged foods, and mandatory health-star rating label on all food products. None of these policies rely on the ultra-processed food concept. We also do need stronger safeguards to prevent food industry from influencing policy design and evaluation; this should not be limited to just safeguards against companies that manufacture a high proportion of ultra-processed foods. Minimally processed foods such as red meat and butter increase the risk of bowel cancer and raise blood lipid levels, respectively, and their production generates large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Policy development should be protected from the influence of food industry more broadly.”
No conflict of interest.
Professor Caryn Zinn, NZ registered dietician, AUT University, comments:
“The Lancet Series provides a timely and much-needed call for decisive global action to address the rise of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Large multinational corporations have undeniably driven the expansion of UPFs through aggressive marketing, and the deliberate engineering of hyper-palatable products. At the same time, consumer demand, shaped by these addictive formulations, continues to fuel the cycle. Food and sugar addiction is a far bigger issue than many researchers acknowledge, and it has contributed to the rapid growth of UPFs in everyday diets.
“In New Zealand, UPFs now contribute around half of total daily energy intake for children aged 15 years, with 85% of our supermarket shelves filled with these products, illustrating how deeply entrenched they have become and why coordinated policy action is urgently required.
“While the Lancet Series recognises key criticisms of the NOVA system (Brazilian system that classifies food according to level of processing) and its limitations, particularly around misclassification of some foods, it reinforces that the evidence is already strong enough to justify immediate public health intervention. At AUT, we have taken these critiques forward by developing a system that builds and improves on NOVA. It’s called CHIPS (Combining Health, Intuition, Processing & Science) and it’s a three-tiered framework that considers food processing alongside health benefit, and realistic, culturally grounded eating patterns. We are currently applying CHIPS using an AI-supported tool to understand its potential to shift behaviour in real-world settings. As global policy momentum builds, frameworks like CHIPS can help provide practical, accessible guidance for individuals and communities, complementing the broader structural actions needed to curb UPF consumption.”
No conflict of interest.