Chris van Tulleken

Some ultra-processed foods may activate the brain reward system in a way that is similar to what happens when people use drugs like alcohol, or even nicotine or morphine

The crux of the matter is the ninth criterion: ‘Use of the substance is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance

As we’ll see, softness and speed of consumption are defining characteristics of UPF compared with real food

achieved with smoking decades ago. It allows the affected person to focus outwards on the industry causing the harm (something we know is helpful in addiction), rather than inwards on personal failure

Softness is one of the characteristics that Kevin Hall identified as a near universal quality of UPF.

the signals that tell you to ‘stop eating’ haven’t evolved to handle food this soft and easily digested, so soft that it’s essentially pre-chewed

This dryness is crucial to UPF. It’s one of the key ways of stopping microbes from growing in it, contributing to the absurdly long shelf life that helps make UPF so profitable

There’s also a large body of research showing that eating more quickly increases the risk of eating more, gaining weight, and having metabolic disease

I eat the same brands of chocolate bar, yoghurt and ketchup that I did as a child. Food should vary – fruit and whole foods change every day, and crops taste different according to the season and weather. There are good batches, bad batches, odd textures and flavours and differences. Not so with UPF. Adding flavourings (tastes and smells) in precise amounts allows for complete consistency