A major study suggests that eating too many highly-processed foods could significantly increase one's risk of cancer. A research that was conducted on over 100,000 adults found that every 10 per cent increase in consumption of ready meals, sugary cereals and salty snacks is linked to a 12 per cent rise in cancer risks. It warned that the “rapidly increasing” consumption of heavily processed foods seen in recent years could drive an increasing burden of cancer in the coming decades.
Conducted by the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Sao Paulo, the study is based on 104,980 healthy French adults, by measuring their intake of 3300 different food items. Study author Dr Mathilde Touvier, nutritional epidemiologist at Sorbonne Paris Cité and Statistics Research Center, said, “To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate and highlight an increase in the risk of overall, and specifically breast cancer associated with ultra-processed food intake.”
Meanwhile, separate data shows similar foods make up over half the British diet- highest proportion across European nations. Scientists have urged consumers to try and eat more fresh, or minimally processed foods as a “precautionary” principle. They also said those eating a diet heavy in convenience foods and other “ultra-processed” snacks such as fizzy drinks and crisps were also far more likely to be overweight.
