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Accepted manuscript

Quantifying the Environmental and Food Biodiversity Impacts of Ultra-Processed Foods - Evidence from the EPIC Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2025

Jeroen Berden Open the ORCID record for Jeroen Berden [Opens in a new window] ,
Giles T. Hanley-Cook ,
Bernadette Chimera ,
Dagfinn Aune ,
Maria Gabriela M. Pinho Open the ORCID record for Maria Gabriela M. Pinho [Opens in a new window] ,
Geneviève Nicolas ,
Bernard Srour Open the ORCID record for Bernard Srour [Opens in a new window] ,
Christopher J. Millett ,
Emine Koc Cakmak  and
Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot
...Show all authors
Jeroen Berden*
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Giles T. Hanley-Cook
Affiliation:
Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Food and Nutrition Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
Bernadette Chimera
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Dagfinn Aune
Affiliation:
Department of Research, Cancer Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway Department of Nutrition, Oslo New University College, Oslo, Norway Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
Maria Gabriela M. Pinho
Affiliation:
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University
Geneviève Nicolas
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Bernard Srour
Affiliation:
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), F-93017 Bobigny, France
Christopher J. Millett
Affiliation:
Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Center, CHRC, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal
Emine Koc Cakmak
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, UK Medical Research Council Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot
Affiliation:
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), F-93017 Bobigny, France
Esther M. González-Gil
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Eszter P. Vamos
Affiliation:
Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Jessica Blanco Lopez
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Julia Baudry
Affiliation:
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), F-93017 Bobigny, France
Justine Berlivet
Affiliation:
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), F-93017 Bobigny, France
Kiara Chang
Affiliation:
Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Mathilde Touvier
Affiliation:
Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, INSERM, INRAE, CNAM, Centre of Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), F-93017 Bobigny, France
Charlotte Le Cornet
Affiliation:
Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
Chloé Marques
Affiliation:
Paris-Saclay University, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, Villejuif, France
Christina C. Dahm
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Daniel B. Ibsen
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
Franziska Jannasch
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany
Guri Skeie
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Maria-José Sanchez
Affiliation:
CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública (EASP), 18011 Granada, Spain Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs. GRANADA, 18012 Granada, Spain
Matthias B. Schulze
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany Institute of Nutritional Science, University of Potsdam, Nuthetal, Germany
Sara Grioni
Affiliation:
Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano Via Venezian, Milan, Italy
Yvonne T. van der Schouw
Affiliation:
Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Ana M. Jimenez Zabala
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health of the Basque Government, Sub-Directorate for Public Health and Addictions of Gipuzkoa, San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute, Group of Epidemiology of Chronic and Communicable Diseases, San Sebastián,Gipuzkoa, Spain
Anna Winkvist
Affiliation:
Department of Diagnostics and Intervention, Oncology, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, University of Göteborg, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Anne Tjønneland
Affiliation:
Danish Cancer Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Carlotta Sacerdote
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences. University of Eastern Piedmont. Novara, Italy Unit of Epidemiology, Local Health Unit of Novara, Novara, Italy.
Cecilie Kyrø
Affiliation:
Danish Cancer Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
Elisabette Weiderpass
Affiliation:
International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Marcela Guevara
Affiliation:
CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain Instituto de Salud Pública y Laboral de Navarra, 31003 Pamplona, Spain Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Pauline Frenoy
Affiliation:
Paris-Saclay University, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, Villejuif, France
Rosario Tumino
Affiliation:
Hyblean Association for Epidemiology Research, AIRE ONLUS Ragusa, Italy
Salvatore Panico
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
Verena Katzke
Affiliation:
Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
Xuan Ren
Affiliation:
Paris-Saclay University, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, CESP, Villejuif, France
Paolo Vineis
Affiliation:
Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, UK
Pietro Ferrari
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Carl Lachat
Affiliation:
Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Inge Huybrechts
Affiliation:
Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
*
Corresponding author: Jeroen Berden, jeroen.berden@ugent.be, +32496237676, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Section of Nutrition and Metabolism, 25 Avenue Tony Garnier, CS 90627, 69366 LYON CEDEX 07, France.
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Abstract

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Objective:

While associations of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption with adverse health outcomes are accruing, its environmental and food biodiversity impacts remain underexplored. This study examines associations between UPF consumption and dietary greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe), land use, and food biodiversity.

Design:

Prospective cohort study. Linear mixed models estimated associations between UPF intake (grams/day and kcal/day) and GHGe (kg CO₂-equivalents/day), land use (m2/day), and dietary species richness (DSR). Substitution analyses assessed the impact of replacing UPFs with unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

Participants:

368,733 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Setting:

Europe

Results:

Stronger associations were found for UPF consumption in relation with GHGe and land use compared to unprocessed or minimally processed food consumption. Substituting UPFs with unprocessed or minimally processed foods was associated with lower GHGe (8.9%; 95%CI: -9.0; -8.9) and land use (9.3%; -9.5; -9.2) when considering consumption by gram per day and higher GHGe (2.6%; 95% CI: 2.5: 2.6) and land use (1.2%; 1.0; 1.3) when considering consumption in kilocalories per day. Substituting UPF by unprocessed or minimally processed foods led to negligible differences in DSR, both for consumption in grams (-0.1%; -0.2; -0.1) and kilocalories (1.0%; 1.0; 1.1).

Conclusion:

UPF consumption was strongly associated with GHGe and land use as compared to unprocessed or minimally processed food consumption, while associations with food biodiversity were marginal. Substituting UPFs with unprocessed or minimally processed foods resulted in differing directions of associations with environmental impacts, depending on whether substitutions were weight- or calorie-based.

Keywords

food processingenvironmental impactfood biodiversityultra-processed foods

Information

Type
Short Communication
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 20
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society

Footnotes

*

Joint last authors