Processed foods ‘making UK sick man of Europe’

BRITAIN is the ‘sick man of Europe’ because we eat more ultra-processed food than any of our continental neighbours, the House of Lords has heard.

Professor Tim Spector told peers that Britons consume poor quality food, which makes them overeat and fuels diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

He likened the unhealthy produce to passive smoking, as he demanded that more be done to protect children from its harms and called for compulsory warning labels on packaging.

Professor Spector, who lectures in genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, accused food companies of causing the UK’s obesity crisis by making products ‘hyper-palatable’ to turn a profit.

When asked how poor diet contributes to ill health, he told the House of Lords food, diet and

obesity committee: ‘I think there’s something in the very essence of the food we’re eating that is causing us this problem and that’s why the UK is really the sick man of Europe because we have the highest percentage of our calories eaten in this poor quality food that makes us overeat.’ His warning

comes after a study published in the BMJ this week found eating ultra-processed foods can cause an increased risk of 32 different health problems.

Diets which include high amounts of ready meals, sugary cereals and mass-produced bread are often high in fat, salt and

sugar, and low in vitamins and fibre. The UK eats more ultraprocessed foods than any other European nation, as they make up an estimated 57 per cent of the national diet.

Containing colours, emulsifiers, flavours and other additives, they typically undergo multiple industrial processes which research has found degrades the physical structure of foods, making it easier to digest and faster to absorb.

This increases blood sugar and damages the microbiome – the community of ‘friendly’ bacteria which we rely on for good health.

Professor Spector said: ‘I’m old enough to have lived through the passive smoking debates in epidemiology, where the initial studies were not that clear and the tobacco industry was sort of pushing back and saying, “We don’t really understand the exact dose that’s harmful for children”, and “Don’t worry about it, it’s all very confusing”.

‘And I think this is very much what we’re seeing here.’

Professor Spector said studies show people who eat more ultraprocessed foods have ‘more diabetes, more obesity, higher blood pressure’, adding: ‘It’s fairly clear that you have a health problem – that’s partly due to these foods inducing (people) to eat more because they’re hyper-palatable.’