Which ultra-processing ingredients are associated with death? A summary
- A large study explored the links between ultra-processing ingredients and death
- Flavourings, colour agents, sweeteners and varieties of sugar were associated with mortality
- Some specific ingredients, including saccharin, fructose and glutamate, were associated with death
- Gelling agents such as pectin were inversely associated with death
- The risk does not come from the ingredients alone and is often context-dependent
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are often associated with certain ingredients – additives such as colouring and gelling agents, sweeteners, and flavourings.
A new study focuses on these ultra-processing ingredients, the components that make up ultra-processed foods. Sometimes called markers of ultra-processing, or MUPs, these are additives that are often key components of foods classified as ultra-processed. A food is ultra-processed if it contains even one of these ingredients.
Exploring which ones are most commonly associated with mortality, the study aims to clarify what parts of UPFs are actually linked to the poor health outcomes they’re so often associated with.
What are ultra-processed foods?
Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, are foods made from ingredients extracted from foods, like hydrogenated fats and modified starch, according to the most common definition from the Nova classification. They often contain flavours, colours and preservatives, require little preperation, and are highly palatable. However, there are a range of other definitions as well.
Some additives were frequently linked to death
The study, published in Lancet-affiliated journal eClinicalMedicine, followed 186,744 people in the UK between the ages of 40 and 75, all participants in the UK’s long-term Biobank study. After a mean follow-up of 11 years, 10,203 deaths had occurred.
The study linked several ingredient types to all-cause mortality. Flavours, flavour enhancers, colour agents, sweeteners and varieties of sugars were all associated with the risk of death.
According to the paper, flavourings have been found to lead to increased eating and a disruption of the “flavour-nutrient learning”, in other words the process of learning to associate certain flavours with nutritional quality (although it should be noted the existence of this in humans is still disputed).
Colour agents have been linked to autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, as well as allergenic and even carcinogenic effects.
Sweeteners have been linked to the interference with the body’s understanding of the relationship between sweet taste and its consequences post-ingestion, which some studies have suggested leads to overeating to compensate.
Finally, free sugars have in the past been linked to both weight gain and obesity.
The study also linked specific ingredients to mortality. These included glutamate, fructose, sucralose, saccharin, ribonucleotide, acesulfame, caking agents, firming agents, thickeners, inverted sugar, lactose, maltodextrin, and gelling agents.
Gelling agents, unlike the others, were inversely associated with death rather than directly associated.
Some ultra-processing ingredients inversely associated with death
Not all MUPs explored in the study were directly related to death.
Gelling agents, for example, were found to be negatively associated with the risk of death. This may be to do with the effects of pectin, a fibre-based gelling agent which may have potential health benefits.
Other ingredients, such as processing aids, protein sources, fibre and modified oil, were not associated with death either positively or negatively.
Many critics of the UPF category have pointed out that it covers fortified products and suggests foods that are made richer in ingredients like fibre through processing are still tarred with the UPF brush.
The nature of the risk
While many of these ingredients indeed pose a risk to consumers, the study points out that the risk does not necessarily stem from the isolated ingredients alone.
Instead, how they interact with broader food and processing procedures plays a key role.
The risk may come from a combination of the degradation of the food matrix, processing methods, the nutrient content, and the interaction between UPFs and consumer behaviour.
Overall, however, it is important for both consumers and manufacturers to be aware that certain ingredients associated with ultra-processing pose a greater risk than others.
