Australia has some of highest consumption rates of ultra-processed foods, researchers say | Health

Ultra-processed foods now make up almost half of the average Australian diet because the country is “falling behind international best practice” on nutrition, one of the authors of a major new global report says.

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are increasingly replacing healthy, whole foods in diets and are a “key driver of the increasing global burden of many diet-related chronic diseases,” a series published Wednesday in the leading medical journal Lancet found.

The Lancet series described these foods as a “major new challenge” to health.

IT Australia was found to have some of the highest UPF consumption rates, along with the US and the UK. accounts for more than half of the calories consumed each day. Such foods have become “a central part of dietary patterns for most of the population.”

Well-established processing methods such as fermentation and canning largely preserve the natural structure of foods and extend their shelf life.

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However, new technologies change the internal structure of food, chemically change its components and use additives to produce long-lasting and delicious products that are ready for consumption. These are known as ultra-processed foods.

The Lancet series outlines the “urgent, coordinated” public policies and collective actions needed to address the growing impacts of UPFs.

But series co-author Prof Mark Lawrence of Deakin University warned Australia was already behind.

“We don’t currently have a national food and nutrition policy in this country,” Lawrence said, adding that there hasn’t been one since 1992. “Instead we have piecemeal action in the policy arena.

“We have fallen behind international best practices. There is no tax on sugar and soft drinks” [like] Other countries do this too.”

In their place, the health department’s healthy food partnership was “well-intentioned” but “unfortunately produced very dire consequences” because the strategies used were poorly designed, he said.

‘New vision’ needed for food system

Lawrence said the “classic example of counterproductive policy” was Australia’s health star rating system, which focuses on individual nutrients such as salt and sugar.

The research has influenced policymakers as Australia’s largest food manufacturers were involved in developing the system, allowing these ingredients to be replaced with ultra-processed alternatives and products to be highly rated.

Policymakers need to consider the cumulative health effects of this “cocktail” of new ingredients over time, Lawrence said.

Researchers participating in the Lancet series analyzed evidence from more than 100 articles, finding associations between high consumption of ultra-processed foods. and higher risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions.

Recent research conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital has suggested that ultra-processed foods may be linked to precursors of bowel cancer. It may help explain the increasing incidence of bowel cancer in people under 50s.

Australia has the world’s highest rates of bowel cancer in people under 50.

Dr., one of the co-authors of the series, also from Deakin University. Priscila Machado said that although the Lancet series did not find strong evidence linking UPFs to bowel cancer, studies examining the precursors were “very relevant” and more research was needed.

The authors called for policies that support the availability and affordability of fresh and minimally processed foods, as well as policies that address the supply chain. Address socioeconomic and gender inequalities that drive demand for UPFs.

Lawrence points to a “gold standard” policy in Brazil that legislates that 90% of foods in public school lunch programs come from unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

Dr Philip Baker, lead author of a paper in the series from the University of Sydney, said: “A new vision was needed for Australia’s food system to redistribute resources to a more diverse range of local producers rather than transnational corporations.

A spokeswoman for deputy health minister Rebecca White said Australia’s 2013 dietary guidelines were currently being reviewed. This involved a “systematic review of ultra-processed food consumption” [and its impact] to provide information on mortality and chronic disease risk to inform updated guidelines.”