We all know by now that junk food is bad for us, but junk food isn’t necessarily just cookies and chips. Chances are what you eat every day can be labeled “junk” — and eating the stuff can give you cancer.
That’s the takeaway from an Imperial College of London study, which shows that “ultra-processed foods … such as fizzy drinks, mass-produced packaged breads, many ready meals and most breakfast cereals” come packaged with a huge cancer risk.
In the first United Kingdom study of its kind, which tapped health data from 200,000 people, the researchers concluded those who ate such foods suffered a “greater risk of developing cancer overall, and specifically with ovarian and brain cancers. It was also associated with an increased risk of dying from cancer.”
The study states, “Ultra-processed foods are often relatively cheap, convenient, and heavily marketed, often as healthy options. But these foods are also generally higher in salt, fat, sugar, and contain artificial additives. It is now well documented that they are linked with a range of poor health outcomes including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
The study’s lead author, Dr. Kiara Chang, notes, “Our bodies may not react the same way to these ultra-processed ingredients and additives as they do to fresh and nutritious minimally processed foods. However, ultra-processed foods are everywhere and highly marketed with cheap price and attractive packaging to promote consumption. This shows our food environment needs urgent reform to protect the population from ultra-processed foods.”
That protection, Chang and her team explain, would include “front of package” warning labels detailing the negative health effects of the grub within.