Whenever I open a “sharing” bag of my favourite crisps (150g, five servings), I never mean to eat them all. Sometimes I succeed in eating only half and putting the rest back in the cupboard. But the open packet preys on my mind. I can’t concentrate on anything else until I take it out again and scoff the lot, licking every last bit of the tangy, salty coating off my fingers. It’s incredibly delicious. But immediately afterwards I feel a bit sick, and a bit ashamed, and vow never to do it again. Sooner or later, of course, I do.
It might not be crisps for you. It might be chocolate, or ice-cream, or fizzy drinks. These ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which we know are extremely harmful to health, are designed to be hyper-palatable and overeaten. Now researchers believe they are not just hard to resist – they are actually addictive. An analysis of 281 studies in 36 countries by scientists from the US, Spain and Brazil, published in the BMJ, found that 14% of adults and 12% of children have a food addiction, and the food they are addicted to is ultra-processed.
