Not all ultraprocessed foods were harmful
The study, published Monday in the journal The Lancet, collected dietary information from 266,666 men and women from seven European countries between 1992 and 2000. Researchers followed the participants for 11 years to see who developed various chronic conditions, including cancer.
As they entered the study, each person was asked to recall what they typically ate over the last 12 months, and researchers categorized the foods by the NOVA classification system, which looks beyond nutrients to how foods are made.
“To estimate it researchers had to break down foods into different ingredients to try and work out if it is ultra-processed or not,” said Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Mellor was not involved in the study.
“This approach, especially as the food data is up to 30 years old, could make this type of interpretation of historical data using a modern definition open to error,” Mellor said in a statement.
When ultraprocessed foods were examined by subgroups, not all appeared to be associated with developing multiple chronic conditions, said lead author Reynalda Córdova, a postdoctoral student in pharmaceutical, nutritional and sport sciences at the University of Vienna.
“While certain groups, such as animal products and artificially and sugar-sweetened beverages, were associated with increased risk, other groups, such as ultra-processed breads and cereals or alternative plant-based products, showed no association with risk,” Córdova said in a statement.
“Our study emphasizes that it is not necessary to completely avoid ultra-processed foods; rather, their consumption should be limited, and preference be given to fresh or minimally processed foods,” co-author Freisling said in a statement.
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