One in seven adults and one in eight children may be addicted to ultra-processed foods (UPFs), experts say, prompting calls for some products to be labelled as addictive.
Recent studies have linked UPFs such as ice cream, fizzy drinks and ready meals to poor health, including an increased risk of cancer, weight gain and heart disease. Global consumption of these products is soaring and UPFs now make up more than half of the average diet in the UK and US.
UPF web
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Now, researchers say the way some people consume such foods could “meet the criteria for a substance use disorder diagnosis”.
Behaviours that could meet these criteria include: intense cravings, withdrawal symptoms, less control over intake, and continued use despite consequences such as obesity, binge eating disorder, poorer physical and mental health, and lower quality of life, they said.
An analysis of 281 studies from 36 different countries, published in the BMJ, found that “ultra-processed food addiction” is estimated to occur in 14% of adults and 12% of children.
The scientists said that if some foods high in carbohydrates and fats were officially classified as “addictive”, it could help improve health through changes in social, clinical and political policies.
“There is converging and consistent support for the validity and clinical relevance of food addiction,” said Ashley Gearhardt, corresponding author of the article and professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in the US.
“By acknowledging that certain types of processed foods have the properties of addictive substances, we may be able to help improve global health.”
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It would also encourage more research into this area of UPF, the authors added. Some experts have recently suggested that the products have been unfairly demonised. But all experts say more research is urgently needed to understand the potential impact of UPF on global health.
Co-author Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, an assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in the US, added: “Given the prevalence of these foods – they account for 58% of calories consumed in the United States – there is so much we don’t know”.
The researchers, from the US, Brazil and Spain, said: “Refined carbohydrates or fats induce similar levels of extracellular dopamine in the striatum of the brain as addictive substances such as nicotine and alcohol.
“Based on these behavioural and biological parallels, foods that provide high levels of refined carbohydrates or added fats are strong candidates for an addictive substance.”
The speed at which these foods deliver carbohydrates and fats to the gut could also play a role in their “addictive potential”, the authors added.
Food additives may also contribute to the “addictiveness of UPFs”, they said. While these additives, which are added to foods to improve taste and “mouthfeel”, are unlikely to be addictive on their own, they could “become powerful enhancers of the effects of calories in the gut”, they wrote.
The researchers stressed that not all foods have addictive potential.
But they concluded that while more research is needed to determine exactly how ultra-processed foods trigger an addictive response, those high in refined carbohydrates and fats are “clearly consumed in addictive patterns” and lead to harmful health outcomes.
“Ultra-processed foods high in refined carbohydrates and added fats are highly rewarding, appealing and compulsively consumed and can be addictive,” they continued.
“Behaviours around ultra-processed foods may meet the criteria for a substance use disorder diagnosis in some people.
“Addiction to ultra-processed foods is estimated to occur in 14% of adults and 12% of children, and is associated with biopsychological mechanisms of addiction and clinically significant problems.
“Understanding these foods as addictive could lead to novel approaches in social justice, clinical care and policy.”
