Ultra-processed foods may increase risk of death by 10%

• A diet heavy in ultra-processed foods may increase the risk of mortality among older Americans by as much as 10%, according to new research.
• The research tracked the diet and health of over half a million participants over more than 20 years.
• The highest level of ultra-processed food consumption was in the younger members of the researcher’s older adult cohort.

Eating ultra-processed food is linked to an increased risk of mortality in older people, an extended new study suggests.

People who consumed significant amounts of ultra-processed foods were 10% more likely to die during the study’s long follow-up period than those who did not.

The study drew on data from the US NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which tracked the diet and health of over a half million older people. The new analysis included adults ranging in age from 50 to 71 at baseline in 1995-1996, with a median 22.9-year follow-up period.

The researchers scored their diets using the NOVA system, which classifies foods according to the degree and type of processing used in their preparation.

They looked at Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 scores, and not just NOVA processing, and noted that people with higher UPF intake tended to have lower diet quality and a higher BMI.

What makes this study noteworthy, in particular, is the two approaches the researchers used to further validate the food frequency questionaries (FFQ): expert consensus and an alternative and novel food-based approach to define UPF intake (grams per day), which was broken down into food codes, then ingredient codes, then classified via NOVA.

The researchers also used two 24-hour diet recalls in a subgroup to calibrate their FFQ risk estimates, which is not standard practice and adds to the potential rigor of the study’s findings.

The research was presented this week at the American Society for Nutrition’s NUTRITION 2024 conference.