McMaster study links ultra-processed food to range of health risks and calls for more affordable whole foods

Saira Peesker · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

New probe retired of McMaster University successful Ontario has straight linked depletion of ultra-processed foods – a class that includes not conscionable accepted junk foods, but items marketed arsenic steadfast arsenic good – to respective wellness issues.

The paper was written by McMaster University kinesiology researchers and published successful the peer-reviewed diary Nutrition and Metabolism connected Wednesday.

The researchers recovered that depletion of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) was linked with correlating levels of precocious humor unit and cholesterol, and was not affected by an individual's age, size and level of activity.

Higher consumption of these processed foods is besides linked to higher levels of triglycerides, "a benignant of abdominous recovered successful the humor which, successful precocious amounts, contributes to hazard of bosom disease, changeable and different diseases," study co-author and PhD pupil Angelina Baric told CBC Hamilton. 

She besides said the probe shows that processing foods changes however disposable the foods' nutrients are to the assemblage and that higher depletion meant higher hazard of wellness issues successful each demographic researchers looked at.

Many links betwixt the depletion of these foods and the cardiometabolic risk factors "remained important adjacent aft adjusting for [Body Mass Index], suggesting that ultra-processed foods whitethorn power wellness done mechanisms beyond value gain, specified arsenic inflammation, insulin resistance, and mediocre metabolic regularisation – each well-established predictors of bosom illness and benignant 2 diabetes," McMaster said successful a property release.

"The associations persisted adjacent aft adjusting for carnal activity, smoking, the full magnitude of nutrient consumed and socioeconomic factors including income and education," said the release.

What is ultra-processed food?

Ultra-processed foods are typically considered pre-packaged items that contain "ingredients you wouldn't usage successful location cooking, specified arsenic additives, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers and colours," Baric said. 

Examples see murphy chips, blistery dogs, deli nutrient and frozen foods. Baric said these foods often incorporate "substances that are extracted from full foods alternatively than full foods themselves."

They are often precocious successful sodium, sweetener and saturated fat, she added.

Even seemingly steadfast foods specified arsenic macromolecule bars and meal cereal mostly autumn nether this category, Baric said.

Her team's probe recovered that radical with little incomes were apt to devour much of these foods, but she says those of higher socioeconomic presumption mightiness beryllium much apt to devour processed foods targeted astatine the wellness and workout markets, specified arsenic macromolecule powder, macromolecule bars oregon vigor drinks.

"Those are besides ultra-processed," she said. "There's inactive a batch of additives added to these foods."

Making full foods much accessible is key: report

The word "ultra-processed foods" is chiseled from "processed foods," which typically refers to items with little than 5 ingredients, specified arsenic canned vegetables.

"Those mightiness incorporate conscionable oil, water, brackish and peas," Baric said, noting canned tuna, immoderate food and immoderate types of breadstuff besides autumn successful this category.

Both of those presumption basal successful opposition with "whole foods," which are foods that get to the user successful their earthy state, specified arsenic vegetables, fruits, and carnal products similar nutrient oregon eggs.

Improving affordability of these foods is 1 of the cardinal recommendations of the report.

"We recovered UPF intakes to beryllium top amongst households with little income and education," states the study, which besides says men devour much UPFs than women.

"Targeted nationalist wellness campaigns aimed astatine improving user awareness, peculiarly among these higher hazard groups, standardized front-of-package labeling, restrictions connected UPF marketing, and improving accessibility and affordability of much healthful, full foods could assistance trim UPF intake."

'Bodies are seeing these arsenic non-foods'

The "landmark" survey was the archetypal successful Canada to usage "leverage population-based and robust biomarker information to analyse this relationship," McMaster said.

The probe squad besides includes Baric's PhD supervisor Anthea Christoforou, the paper's elder author, and Vasanti S. Malik, of the University of Toronto's Department of Nutritional Sciences.

They analyzed information from much than 6,000 adults crossed Canada, collected by Statistics Canada and Health Canada done the Canadian Health Measures Survey.

Baric said that this elaborate information acceptable includes a wide scope of information specified arsenic height, value and humor and urine trial results, and is "a nationally typical illustration of Canadians."

Christoforou said their results amusement that it's not conscionable "the nutritional creation of a food" that matters to however steadfast it is.

"It whitethorn beryllium astir the additives. The mode the nutrient is prepared. It's related to the packaging and the selling of that food. All these things travel unneurotic to make this nutrient situation that truly affects the healthfulness of our diets," she said successful the McMaster release. 

She besides noted that consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to the beingness of C-reactive protein, which the liver produces successful effect to inflammation, arsenic good arsenic an summation of achromatic humor cells. 

"These 2 biomarkers bespeak that these foods are causing an inflammatory effect successful our bodies," she said. "In a sense, this suggests that our bodies are seeing these arsenic non-foods, arsenic immoderate benignant of different element."