How ultra-processed foods impact health: Latest evidence

The Food Standards Agency points out that there is not a single, universally agreed-upon definition for ultra-processed foods.

However, the agency also notes that the most commonly used definition comes from the NOVA classification, describing ultra-processing as “[f]ormulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, typically created by a series of industrial techniques and processes.”

Another definition of ultra-processed foods includes foods that contain ingredients that might not be found in a kitchen cupboard. For example, types of emulsifiers, additives, and stabilisers.

Recent studies covered on Medical News Today have found that consuming ultra-processed foods, especially at high levels, can have serious negative effects on health.

A study published in Nutrients in September 2025 looked at how the diets of 90 people with IBD affected disease activity.

Raj Dasgupta, MD, Chief Medical Advisor for Sleepopolis, and associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, who was not involved in the study, told MNT that:

“This study reinforces what we’ve been seeing for a while. It’s another piece of evidence that diet isn’t just background [and] can play a real role in how the disease shows up.”

Dasgupta said he typically recommends a Mediterranean-style diet that involves more fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains, and fewer processed and sugary foods.

Additionally, a systematic review and meta-analysis published in eClinical Medicinein August 2025 examined how the foods you eat can affect the development of IBD.

While the researchers did not find an association between certain foods and the development of ulcerative colitis, they did observe that ultra-processed foods and eating an inflammatory diet may increase the risk of Crohn’s disease.

They also found that eating a Mediterranean diet and one that is higher in fiber may decrease the risk of Crohn’s disease.

A study published in Thoraxin July 2025 found that eating high amounts of ultra-processed foods may increase the risk of both non-small cell (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

The researchers concluded that individuals who ate higher amounts of ultra-processed foods had a 41% relatively higher risk of lung cancer than those who ate the lowest amounts.

However, there were certain limitations to this study.

Katrina Brown, senior cancer intelligence manager at Cancer Research UK, pointed out some of these limitations: “There is adjustment for smoking in the paper, but there’s nothing about how long a person smoked for, or how heavily they smoked. And we know that those are variables that are very closely associated with lung cancer incidence.”

“Also,” Brown added, “the lack of adjustment for occupational exposure is a concern. There are a number of substances that can increase lung cancer risks, typically encountered at volume in occupational settings. Asbestos, silica, lots of dusts and chemicals can have quite a high relative risk for lung cancer.”

While this initial study found that there may be a connection between ultra-processed foods and an increased risk for lung cancer, more research is needed.

A burden of proof study published in Nature Medicinein June 2025 analyzed data from over 60 studies that investigated how sugary beverages, processed meats, and trans fatty acids in a person’s diet relate to the development of various conditions.

The researchers found that regularly consuming even small amounts of these types of foods can lead to a higher risk of developing conditions like type 2 diabetes and ischemic heart disease.

A more recent study published in Nutrition & Metabolism took a closer look at how consuming ultra-processed foods can affect the risk of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes in young adults (ages 17 to 22).

More than half of the calories consumed in the United States are from ultra-processed foods.

The researchers studied 85 young adults over a 4-year period. Over this period, they found that an increase in the uptake of ultra-processed foods was associated with an increased risk of prediabetes.

“Our findings show that even modest increases in ultra-processed food intake can disrupt glucose regulation in young adults at risk for obesity. These results point to diet as a modifiable driver of early metabolic disease, and an urgent target for prevention strategies among young people,” noted the study’s senior author Vaia Lida Chatzi, MD, PhD, a professor of population and public health sciences and pediatrics and director of the Southern California Superfund Research and Training Program for PFAS Assessment, Remediation and Prevention (ShARP) Center at the Keck School of Medicine, in a press release.

The study’s findings indicate that limiting the consumption of ultra-processed foods can help decrease the risk and even prevent conditions like prediabetes.