Several studies expose the invasion of ultra-processed foods in the food industry
The WHO and UNICEF have described the proliferation of ultra-processed products as a systemic and urgent threat.
A series of scientific reviews published recently in the magazine The Lancet warn about a drastic change of food paradigm: ultra processed foods have colonised the world diet, promoted by large corporations in their pursuit of profit.
As occurred with the tobacco industry last century, a group of giant businesses dominated the market using aggressive tactics to protect their economic interests. It is not just food, but rather industrial preparations artificially designed to make food hyper-palatable and addictive, taking the place of fresh foods and eroding global health on an unprecedented scale.
This phenomenon is expanding like an invasive species all over the planet, with particularly virulent penetration in countries with medium and low incomes, where the sales of these products are on the rise at breakneck speed.
A danger flagged by the WHO
The business model of this industry is based on transforming cheap raw materials – such as corn, soya, wheat and palm oil, into low nutritional quality edible foodstuffs, which ends up destroying the traditional diets and the local culinary culture. Additionally, its expansion towards developing economies is generalising chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular pathologies in vulnerable populations.
Supporting this resounding exposure, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF have joined together in this warning, qualifying the proliferation of these products as a systematic and urgent threat. While the WHO warns about the danger that they represent for public health, equality and environmental sustainability, UNICEF puts the spotlight on child protection, demanding that human welfare must be given priority over corporate profits.
