It is time for a coalition against ultra-processed foods

The formation of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) by the Royal College of Physicians in 1971 to lobby and campaign for tobacco control was a major step forward in public health. Since poor diet has overtaken smoking as the leading killer in many Western countries, it may now be time for a coalition against ultra-processed foods (UPFs).The case for such a body is further advanced by the new umbrella review of observational studies by Lane and colleagues demonstrating that UPF consumption is associated with an increased risk of a wide variety of chronic diseases.1 Although the studies do not prove causality, the likelihood for this is greatly strengthened by the consistency of the data (93% of the pooled analyses suggest harm from UPFs) and by the many biologically plausible mechanisms outlined by the authors. These are some of the criteria first delineated by Austin Bradford Hill for helping establish…
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