Ultra-processed food is responsible for about 391,000 deaths a year in Europe, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data reported by Olive Oil Times.
When taken alongside alcohol, fossil fuels and tobacco, the WHO said the four industries were responsible for more than 2.7M deaths a year – about one quarter of all fatalities – on the continent.
“It is estimated that at least one third of total global deaths [19M] and 41% of non-communicable disease deaths are attributable to just four commercial products: tobacco, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels and alcohol,” the WHO wrote.
Although there was no formal definition of ultra-processed food, the widely used classification established by Nova – a system used worldwide in nutrition and public health research, policy and guidance as a tool for understanding the health implications of different food products – described ultra-processed foods as “formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives” with negligible use of raw or natural foods in the preparation, Olive Oil Times wrote on 25 June.
The report found that diets high in sodium were responsible for 252,187 deaths/year – 2.27% of the total – followed by diets high in processed meat (117,290 deaths/year, 1.07%), diets high in sugar-sweetened beverages (15,606 deaths/year, 0.14%) and diets high in trans fatty acids (6,056 deaths/year, 0.05%).
The WHO report followed a separate report published in the British Medical Journal in February 2024 that connected high consumption of ultra-processed foods to more than 30 health issues.
“Consistent evidence shows that higher exposure to ultra-processed foods is associated with an increased risk of 32 damaging health outcomes including cancer, major heart and lung conditions, mental health disorders and early death,” Melissa Lane, the study’s lead author from Deakin University in Australia, told Olive Oil Times in an April 2024 interview.
In its report, the WHO claimed the producers of ultra-processed foods were increasing the impact of their products on non-communicable diseases by lobbying governments and influencing public policy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“An analysis of corporate social responsibility practices during the Covid-19 pandemic showed the four ways in which corporations that were producing health-harming and potentially health-harming products, including tobacco, alcohol, fossil fuels and ultra-processed food and drink, took advantage of the pandemic, based on examples from more than 90 countries,” the WHO wrote.
Serge Hercburg, the creator of Nutri-Score, a front-of-pack labelling system being considered by the European Commission for mandatory adoption across the bloc, has raised concerns that the food industry has tried to undermine Nutri-Score.
The WHO report also claimed that the food and beverage industry had exploited the concept of global inequality to oppose attempts to raise taxes on ultra-processed food and drink.
However, food and beverage industry officials had criticised the report as disingenuous, Olive Oil Times wrote.
“To connect the consumption of processed foods with the tobacco and fossil fuel industries is irresponsible and … misleading,” Rebecca Fernández, the science director of trade association FoodDrink Europe told Food Navigator.
“Well-established food nutrition science the world over tells us that the best way to tackle obesity and non-communicable diseases is to focus on the nutrition content of a food and how often you consume it in conjunction with what type of lifestyle you lead,” she added.
The WHO report called on governments to adopt stronger regulations and legislation to curb the marketing of health-harming products, increase the transparency of lobbying and conflicts of interest in industry-funded health research, raise taxes on multinationals and increase funding for civil society groups focused on promoting public health.
