Comprehensive Scoring Analysis

A new study has drawn parallels between the addictive qualities of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and tobacco products an…

A study by researchers at three United States universities claims to have identified similarities between the addictive…

According to the study, which was published this week in the Milbank Quarterly healthcare journal, UPFs " key engineeri…

" The study found that common UPFs soft drinks, chips and cookies are industrially produced in such a way as to optimiz…

"UPFs are not just nutrients but intentionally designed, highly engineered and manipulated, hedonically optimized produ…

Should UPFs be regulated tobacco products?

The researchers from Harvard, the University of Michigan and Duke University therefore recommend applying regulatory po…

These could include clearer labeling, higher taxes, limits on availability in schools and hospitals, and restrictions o…

The authors of the study point out that, unlike tobacco, food is necessary for human survival, making the need for UPF …

" The findings come two months after a UNICEF study published in The Lancet in December revealed the extent of UPF cons…

The study found that 10-35% of children aged five and under already regularly consumed sweet soft drinks, while 60% of …

UPFs in Africa: 'Growing public health alarm' In developed countries, the study found that over 50% of people's calorie…

Responding to the Milbank Quarterly study, Githinji Gitahi, the chief executive of Kenya-based NGO Amref Health Africa,…

"Corporate have found a comfortable, and profitable, nexus: weak government regulation on harmful products and a changi…

"This places new and preventable pressures on already stretched health systems.

" Others, however, have cautioned against drawing too many parallels between UPFs and tobacco, suggesting the latest st…

Speaking to The Guardian, Professor Martin Warren, chief scientific officer at the Quadram Institute, a specialist food…

" Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher