The findings demonstrated that ultra-processed foods can hijack the brain's reward system, triggering cravings, loss of control, and persistent use despite harmful consequences -- key features of addiction
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Your favourite chips, cookies, soda -- ultra-processed foods -- can trigger addictive behaviours that meet the same clinical criteria used to diagnose substance-use disorders, warned a study.
Researchers argued that failure to recognise this in diagnostic systems is a dangerous oversight with grave consequences for global public health.
"People aren't becoming addicted to apples or brown rice," said lead author Ashley Gearhardt, Professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, US.
"They're struggling with industrial products specifically engineered to hit the brain like a drug -- rapidly, intensely and repeatedly," Gearhardt added.
The paper, published in the journal Nature Medicine, synthesised evidence from nearly 300 studies across 36 countries. Their findings demonstrated that ultra-processed foods can hijack the brain's reward system, triggering cravings, loss of control, and persistent use despite harmful consequences -- key features of addiction.
Further, neuroimaging studies reveal that individuals with compulsive intake of these foods show brain circuit disruptions strikingly similar to those seen in alcohol and cocaine addiction.
Notably, medications that reduce cravings for ultra-processed foods have also been found to reduce compulsive drug use, underscoring the shared neurobiological mechanisms.
Importantly, Gearhardt and team highlighted that while conditions like nitrous oxide and caffeine use disorder have been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, despite abundant and growing support, ultra-processed food addiction has yet to receive even preliminary recognition as a condition worthy of further study. The manual classifies mental disorders based on limited evidence.
"The bar for recognising addiction has been far lower in other cases," said co-author Erica LaFata, assistant research professor at Drexel University's Center for Weight, Eating, and Lifestyle Science. "It's time ultra-processed food addiction was held to the same scientific standard."
The study calls on public health leaders, clinicians, and policymakers to take immediate steps to formally recognise ultra-processed food addiction, fund research, and develop clinical tools for identification and treatment. They also urged the enactment of protective measures similar to those used in tobacco control -- including restrictions on marketing to children, clearer labeling, and public education.
"We're not saying all food is addictive," Gearhardt said. "We're saying that many ultra-processed foods are designed to be addictive. And unless we recognise that, we'll continue to fail the people most affected -- especially kids."
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