Rates of addiction to ultra processed foods ‘about the same’ as tobacco and cocaine
Dr Chris van Tulleken has said that number of people who "can’t quit" ultra-processed foods (UPFs) stands at a similar rate to those who are addicted to cocaine, alcohol and tobacco.
The BBC broadcaster, who often appears on BBC Morning Live alongside his identical twin brother Dr Xand van Tulleken, spoke to The Times about how addictive UPFs can be, and the impact this is having on the health of the nation.
Defining what he means by "addiction", Dr Chris explained: "If there is something that you know harms you in some way, and yet you keep doing it despite trying to stop, whether it’s an activity or a substance, that’s what an addiction is."
He added: "Most people will not get addicted. But the rate of addiction across cocaine, alcohol, tobacco and UPFs is all about the same: 10 to 20% of people, having tried it, can’t quit."
Dr Chris has released a new BBC Two documentary titled Irresistible - Why We Can’t Stop Eating, which aired at 9pm on Monday 25 November.
It comes after research revealed that in the UK, adults get more than half (57%) of their daily energy intake from UPFs. This figure is even higher among teenagers, who get 66% of their daily energy intake from foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt.
According to Dr Chris, who authored the book Ultra-Processed People, it is not the general public’s fault that UPFs make up such a large proportion of their diet. "It is the food,” he told the publication. "We just can’t stop eating it, and many of us are addicted to it."
Are ultra-processed foods addictive?
There are studies emerging that suggest UPFs can indeed be addictive. Other evidence that boosts Dr Chris’s argument includes a 2023 review of 281 studies in 36 countries, carried out by scientists from the US, Spain and Brazil.
The analysis, which was published in the BMJ, found that 14% of adults and 12% of children have a food addiction. The scientists determined that the food these populations are addicted to are UPFs.
They used standard diagnostic criteria to measure addiction to alcohol, nicotine, cocaine and heroin, and applied them to food, explained Professor Ashley Gearhardt of the University of Michigan.
She told the Guardian that the criteria included excessive intake, loss of control over consumption, cravings, continued use despite negative consequences, and withdrawal.
The scientists argued that portraying UPFs are addictive substances could "contribute to efforts to improve health".
While the study says not all goods have the potential to become addictive, foods that have high levels of refined carbohydrates or added fats - such as some of Britons’ favourite sweets and salty snacks - are "most strongly implicated in the behavioural indicators of addiction".
What are the consequences of UPF addiction?
The study warns that UPF addiction is linked to higher levels of diet-related disease, lower cognitive functioning, and worse treatment outcomes.
Dr Chris warns that the UK is facing a "health catastrophe" of obesity and other diet-related diseases such as diabetes and cancers, adding that the UK’s statistics "are as bad as the worst in the world".
"We have to take immediate action," he said. "It’s a chronic emergency. We’ve been in a state of emergency now for at least a decade.
"The pandemic of diet-related disease — primarily obesity, but also lots of other problems including cancers and metabolic disease like type 2 diabetes — is driven by the marketing, availability and consumption of industrially prepared and processed products that are high in energy, salt, sugar and fat."
His comments come after the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee released a report in October detailing how the British government can develop a strategy to "fix our broken food system".
The report found that obesity and diet-related disease cost "billions each year in healthcare costs and lost productivity".
It recommends that the government introduce a salt and sugar reformulation tax on food manufacturers, which would replicate the current tax on soft drinks. The Soft Drinks Industry Levy taxes companies 18p per litre on drinks that have a total sugar content of 5g or more and less than 8g per 100ml, and 24p per litre on drinks that have more than 8g per 100ml.
The committee’s report also recommends that the government ban advertising of less healthy food across all media and commission more research into the links between UPFs and adverse health outcomes.
Baroness Walmsley, chair of the Food, Diet and Obesity Committee, said: "Food should be a pleasure and contribute to our health and wellbeing, but it is making too many people ill.
"Something must be going wrong if almost two in five children are leaving primary school with overweight or obesity and so many people are finding it hard to feed healthy food to their families. That is why we took a root and branch look at the food system and analysed what had gone wrong over the past few decades.
"Over the last 30 years successive governments have failed to reduce obesity rates, despite hundreds of policy initiatives. This failure is largely due to policies that focused on personal choice and responsibility out of misguided fears of the ‘nanny state’. Both the government and the food industry must take responsibility for what has gone wrong and take urgent steps to put it right."
Watch: New Study Sheds Light on Health Risks Associated With Ultra-Processed Foods
Read more about ultra-processed food:
7 tasty recipes to replace your favourite ultra-processed foods (Yahoo Life UK, 14-min read)
Ultra-processed foods linked to 30 dangerous health outcomes (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
What is ultra-processed food – and is it bad for you? (The Independent, 3-min read)
