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But in my view, that is missing the point. Some aspects of the food environment in New Zealand, as in many other countries, have become detrimental to the nation\u2019s health. A series of three papers published in The Lancet<\/a>, a medical journal, in 2025 reviewed the evidence about the increase in Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) in diets globally and found that UPFs are displacing long-established diets centred on whole foods and that this pattern increases the risk of multiple diet-related chronic diseases. Research published in Nutrients<\/a> in 2020 reviewed 43 studies and found 37 of them linked UPF exposure with at least one adverse health outcome. These included overweight, obesity and cardio-metabolic risks; cancer, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; irritable bowel syndrome, depression and frailty conditions.<\/p>\n The increasing dominance of UPFs isn\u2019t surprising. UPFs tend to be highly profitable, made from cheap ingredients using industrial methods, contain a lot of sugar, salt, fat and additives which make them highly palatable, and are heavily promoted by food companies. UPFs are usually cheap and convenient to prepare for eating so they make economic sense for households short on time or money. They also tend to have long-shelf lives which makes them easier to store and transport, and reduces wastage at retail outlets and in households.<\/p>\n