More valuable data from Levercliff’s nationally representative UK consumer surveys: nearly 19 million adults have already started avoiding UPFs, and another 9 million are considering doing so. Awareness of UPFs has also climbed to 78% as of June 2025.

If current trends persist, up to half of UK adults may seek to avoid UPFs within five years, according to Levercliff—a food industry consultancy that conducts repeated, nationally representative consumer surveys.

I agree, this is an important development for UPF regulation in the U.S.

Milestone in national dietary surveillance: US CDC now reports UPF intake using Nova food classification system and NHANES data. In 2021–23, >50% of total energy intake came from UPFs across all sociodemographic strata; >60% among children and adolescents.

A solid review of how food additives common in UPFs impact gut health—especially their role in intestinal inflammation. Timely in highlighting the need for broader changes in food safety policy.

The Trojan horse model reveals hidden UPF-related harm via chronic disruption of metabolic, hormonal & genetic control—shifting focus from nutrient-based concerns to a broader view of UPFs as drivers of life-disrupting damage. 🔗

For those who didn’t see yet, excellent thread by Samuel Dicken summarizing the UPDATE trial and its key findings.

Study overview by Samuel, with expert commentary from Kevin and Filippa pasted below. The whole thing is here:

One of the best media coverages of the UPDATE trial: Alice Callahan in the NYT. See more (though not all) in the reply.

Excellent thread by Samuel Dicken summarizing the UPDATE trial and its key findings.

What the trial shows is that even an “improved” ultra-processed diet is inferior to a minimally processed one. As in the abstract: “Findings indicate greater weight loss on MPF than UPF diets and need for dietary guidance on food processing in addition to existing recommendations.

Some are surprised by health benefits seen with the ultra-processed diet—forgetting it was designed (per trial aims) to follow the Eatwell Guide: nutrient-balanced, with fruits & veggies. A far cry from the real UPF-diet consumed in the UK.

Landmark crossover RCT in Nature Medicine asks: Should avoiding UPFs complement guidelines focused on nutrients & food groups—but ignoring processing?.Spoiler: Yes. Hello, UK SACN & US DGAC—time to revisit your reports?.🔗

This RCT gave young adults drinks with sucralose, sugar, or water and found:.a) Sucralose ↑ hunger & hypothalamic activity.b) Sugar did the opposite.c) Sucralose didn’t raise insulin or GLP-1 (satiety hormones). Similar results were already seen in mice.

Another prospective study links UPF intake with negative health outcomes regardless of overall diet quality (measured by AHEI)—this time, with CVD mortality in an Australian cohort.

With compelling arguments, four leading mental health scholars call for recognizing ultra-processed food addiction as a disorder to support stronger prevention, better treatment, and more effective public policies.

Building on NutriNet Santé, NutriNet Brasil—now with 90K participants answering the first questionnaire—is the 2nd-largest web-based diet & health cohort, and the 1st to assess intake by processing level, aligned with Nova. A few papers out, more coming!.

In this letter, Phil Baker & I argue that while targeting all UPFs may be unrealistic in the US/UK—where UPFs already dominate the food supply—broad UPF policies are both feasible and urgently needed in Southern Europe, Asia, Africa & Latin America to prevent the same outcome.

New report backed by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group — the world’s seventh-largest bank with US$2.8 trillion in assets—explains in detaill why UPFs pose major risks to food sector investors, and urges them to push companies to cut reliance on these products

Hot off the press! Our new Nature Reviews Endocrinology paper, led by the brilliant Filippa Juul, takes a holistic look at UPF and obesity—combining historical, epidemiological, mechanistic & policy perspectives, plus a deep dive into biological mechanisms