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Professor Carlos Monteiro of the University of São Paulo argues that ultra-processed foods are so harmful they should carry cigarette-style warnings. He made the claim at the International Congress on Obesity in late June 2024 in São Paulo.
Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are taking over global diets and posing a range of health risks, including chronic disease, Monteiro said. “They are displacing healthier, less processed foods worldwide and are contributing to a decline in dietary quality due to their harmful properties,” Monteiro noted.
He said UPF contributes to rising obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes. He called for strict limits on their sale and consumption and for cigarette-style warning labels on their packaging.
Is This Proposal Reasonable?
At first glance, the idea sounds logical—if radical. Statistics show more than half of the average diet in the U.S. and the U.K. comes from ultra-processed foods, which are linked to heart disease, several cancers, diabetes, and possibly poorer mental health.
So Monteiro’s claim that UPF should be treated as a health hazard on par with tobacco has some merit.
“Both tobacco and ultra-processed foods cause serious disease and premature death, and both are produced by multinational corporations that reap enormous profits,” Monteiro said at the congress.
But some experts argue the strict measures he proposed wouldn’t solve the problem. The UPF category includes not just fast-food burgers but also baby formula, flavored yogurt, and many store-bought breads.
Consumption of ultra-processed foods is tied to poverty. Paul Coleman, an honorary research fellow at London Metropolitan University, says many low-income people know UPF harms their children’s health but lack alternatives. “Cheap, unhealthy products with long shelf lives are their only viable option,” he added.
IFLScience reported that not everyone agreed with comparing UPF to tobacco. Cigarettes can be completely banned; UPF contains fats, sugars, and salt that our bodies need, plus flavor and pleasure. So it’s harder to eliminate UPF than cigarettes, said Hilda Malroney, a lecturer in Nutrition and Health at London Metropolitan University. She thinks these products can be part of a diet—just not in the quantities many people currently eat.
