Why UPF is an Addiction Economy Product

Addiction Economy - why Ultra-Processed Foods are an Addiction Economy product.

A new umbrella review of Ultra-processed food (UPF) published in the British Medical Journal shows it is directly linked to 32 harmful effects to health, including a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, adverse mental health and early death, according to the world’s largest review of its kind.

So why do we say they are part of the 'Addiction Economy' not just another description of foods that aren't that good for you?

Addiction, according to the NHS definition we are using 'is defined as not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you”.

There are a group of industries, we are calling Addiction Economy industries, whose products are deliberately designed to undermine an individual’s ability to control their usage beyond the point at which they are harmed by the product. i.e. to addict their customers.

UPF drives addiction through the 4 components of the Economic Model of Addiction:

1. Addictive product formulation - as Dr Chris van Tulleken says here: “We have good understanding of the mechanisms by which these foods drive harm,” he added. “In part it is because of their poor nutritional profile – they are often high in saturated fat, salt and free sugar.

But the way they are processed is also important – they’re engineered and marketed in ways which drive excess consumption – for example they are typically soft and energy dense and aggressively marketed usually to disadvantaged communities.”

2. Through Predatory Marketing - campaigns such as health claims for unhealthy products, 'Sugar is an appetite suppressant' from the US was a corker.

3. Disinformation - designed to distract or deny harms eg Coopting positive messages aiming to normalise negative effects e.g. “All You Need to Do to Have a Beach Body Is Have a Body, and Go to the Beach”, Burger King PR campaign or ‘Be Body Positive with Nestle Fitnesse’

4. Undermining Political Action - when lobbying becomes harmful and 'big sugar, big UPF spend more on lobbying than almost anyone else.

Many I know will resist this, after all Lean Cuisine, or many of the junk foods are just giving people what they want. But the intent does not have their customers interests at heart.

More to come on that in future work.