Ultra Processed Food: making us sick or keeping us fed?

This webinar, part of our Food for Thought series, took place on Thursday 21 November 2024.

Chaired by Professor Martin White, Professor of Population Health Research, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, our expert panellists were:

Dr Yanaina Chavez-Ugalde, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge
Dr Jagjit Singh Srai, Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge
Dr. Chris van Tulleken, Associate Professor, University College London.
Baroness Walmsley, Chair, House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee

This event addressed issues around ultra processed foods (UPFs) which are increasingly identified as a key driver of the global obesity crisis threatening many of millions of lives, and asked why we consume them in such huge quantities? Can we feed the world’s population sustainably without them? Could they be a necessary evil?

UPFs exist thanks to industrial processes and international long-haul transport, which favour homogenous, uniformly packaged, ready-to-eat, long-life foodstuffs. Good for global supply chains and ‘big food’, but perhaps less than optimal for human health.

Is healthier, less processed food an economically and environmentally viable option for the world’s population? What about the cost of the health problems that UPFs are increasingly proven to cause?

In October 2024, the House of Lords' Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity published their report 'Recipe for Health: A plan to fix our broken food system'.  The Committee was appointed to consider the role of foods, such as ‘ultra-processed foods’ (UPFs) in tackling obesity.  We were delighted to welcome Baroness Walmsley, Chair of the Committee to this event.

Please find our speakers' declarations of interests here.