Highly processed foods linked to cancer

AFTER seven years of survey, the BMJ (British Medical Journal) came out with a report suggesting the link between highly processed foods and the increased risk of cancer.

Using the NOVA classification for highly processed foods (or ultra-processed foods), researchers refer to products high in fat, added sugar, salt and saturated fat. The classification includes products that undergo complex processing involving other ingredients not commonly found in the kitchen like flavouring and additives.

Prepared meals, fizzy drinks, commercially produced breads, cereals and biscuits are examples of ultra-processed products. Besides likely containing neoformed contaminants, some of which have carcinogenic properties (such as acrylamide, heterocyclic amines, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), as BMJ explains, packaging may also contain materials with carcinogenic and endocrine disruptor properties.

The research team from France and Brazil studied the diets and eating habits of nearly 105,000 adults that participated in the NutriNet-Santé cohort study.

The survey found that a 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed food in a person’s diet correlated to a 12% higher risk of cancer. The study saw an increase of 11% in breast cancer. If the same is found in other populations and settings, according to BMJ, it could mean that the rapid increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods could also increase the burden of cancer in the future.

Whilst there are so many ultra-processed foods, the study does not pinpoint which ones specifically increase the risk of cancer in humans. Further studies have yet to be conducted to substantiate the BMJ findings.