Report of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) on the Impact of Consumption of Ultra-processed Foods on the Health of Consumers

* This record is given in both English and Spanish.

Although at present there is no legal provision that establishes a specific definition for the concept of ultra-processed foods, attempts to improve public health have led to the emergence of different food classification systems based on the degree of processing. Of all the classification systems proposed, just two; the NOVA (Public Health School, Sao Paulo, Brasil) system and the SIGA system (France), use the term ultra-processed. The proposed definitions have been the source of some scientific dispute as some definitions refer to the type and degree of processing foods undergo while others refer to their formulation and composition. In this regard, it is important to remember that one cannot attempt to relate the degree of processing with an effect on health independently of the composition of the food. It is also important not to associate the term ultra-processed with foods of poor nutritional quality as this does not depend solely on the intensity or complexity of processing but the final composition of the food itself. Consequently, a more appropriate designation for the concept would be “processed foods of complex composition”.

Among the different food classification systems depending on the degree of processing, NOVA system has been used in most studies to analyze and document the effect of consumption of ultra-processed foods on various diseases or markers of disease, health or mortality.

Both transversal and longitudinal studies have been conducted, with many of these studies indicating that there does indeed exist a direct relationship between higher consumption of ultra-processed foods and cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer and, in general, a greater risk of mortality. Despite that, it must be stressed that these studies are currently scarce and therefore there is a need for a more specific definition of ultra-processed food and to conduct more studies, allowing for the effect of these foods on the health of consumers to be assessed. Given that the effects on health seem to be attributed to certain food ingredients, it is considered necessary to study the impact of processed foods containing such ingredients on consumer health.

Existing studies demonstrate that dietary replacement of unprocessed with ultra-processed foods generates damaging effects on health, however, that is not evidence that replacement with “processed foods of complex composition” is more harmful than replacement with merely processed foods.

The Scientific Committee considers that, to justify the need for a differentiated category for ultra-processed foods or “processed foods of complex composition”, it would be necessary to conduct epidemiological studies that compare the impact on health of diets with a high consumption of processed foods containing those ingredients that appear to contribute to the generation of health problems, compared to diets based on processed foods that do not include such ingredients in their composition.