Summary: Using the established criteria for tobacco addiction, a new analysis concludes that many highly processed foods have addictive properties.
Source: University of Michigan
Can highly processed foods be addictive?
Researchers have debated this question for years as diets high in refined carbohydrates and added fats continue to drive poor health outcomes. A recent collaborative analysis from the University of Michigan and Virginia Tech revisited the scientific standards that identified tobacco as addictive and applied those same benchmarks to foods.
The study used the criteria outlined in the 1988 U.S. Surgeon General’s report that established tobacco’s addictive nature. When those criteria are applied to food, the authors conclude that many highly processed foods — such as potato chips, cookies, ice cream and French fries — meet the standards for addictive substances, said lead author Ashley Gearhardt, associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, and Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech.
Their analysis suggests the addictive potential of these foods may be a central reason for the substantial public health burden linked to an environment saturated with inexpensive, widely available and heavily marketed highly processed products.
Published in Addiction, the paper reviews evidence showing that highly processed foods align with the same four core indicators used to identify cigarettes as addictive:
- They can lead to compulsive consumption where people struggle to cut down or quit, even when facing serious health consequences such as diabetes or heart disease.
- They produce psychoactive effects and induce brain changes similar in nature to those produced by nicotine in tobacco products.
- They are highly reinforcing, increasing the likelihood of repeated behavior.
- They provoke strong urges and cravings that drive continued use.
“There is no single brain biomarker that definitively marks something as addictive,” Gearhardt explained. “The determination that tobacco products were addictive rested on these observable criteria, which have been validated through decades of research. Highly processed foods meet each of these benchmarks.”
DiFeliceantonio emphasized that the rapid delivery of unusually high levels of refined carbohydrates and fats in many highly processed products likely contributes to their addictive potential. Like industrial tobacco products, which consist of thousands of chemicals including nicotine, highly processed foods are complex mixtures whose effects cannot be reduced to a single active ingredient.
When the Surgeon General’s report first identified tobacco as addictive more than three decades ago, broad resistance from some individuals and industry stakeholders delayed public health responses that ultimately cost lives. Gearhardt cautioned that similar resistance could slow meaningful action to address the health impacts of highly processed foods.
“Recognizing that tobacco was addictive reframed smoking as more than a personal choice — many people became hooked and could not stop even when they wanted to,” Gearhardt said. “Evidence now suggests a comparable dynamic with highly processed foods, which is especially troubling given that children are a primary target of marketing for these products.”
Today, poor diets dominated by highly processed items contribute to preventable illness and death at levels comparable to tobacco-related harms. The food industry often formulates and markets these products to be intensely rewarding and difficult to resist, the researchers noted.
“We need to shift how we think about many highly processed foods — not merely as food, but as highly refined products with potential for addiction,” DiFeliceantonio said.
About this food and addiction research news
Author: Press Office
Source: University of Michigan
Contact: Press Office – University of Michigan
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Original Research: Open access.
“Highly processed foods can be considered addictive substances based on established scientific criteria” by Ashley N. Gearhardt et al., Addiction
Abstract
Highly processed foods can be considered addictive substances based on established scientific criteria
Background
There is growing evidence for an addictive-eating phenotype, but debate has persisted about whether highly processed foods (HPFs)—those high in refined carbohydrates and/or added fats—are truly addictive. The lack of clear, science-based criteria to evaluate addictiveness has been a major barrier to resolving this question.
Analysis
The most recent scientific reassessment of addiction criteria focused on tobacco. The 1988 Surgeon General’s report identified three core indicators of tobacco’s addictive nature: (1) the capacity to produce highly controlled or compulsive use, (2) psychoactive effects mediated by the brain, and (3) reinforcement of behavior. Subsequent research added a fourth criterion: the capacity to elicit intense urges or craving. The authors argue that these four criteria form a robust, scientifically grounded framework for assessing addictive potential. They then review existing evidence regarding whether HPFs meet each benchmark.
Conclusion
Applying the standards developed for tobacco products, the analysis concludes that many highly processed foods meet the criteria to be considered addictive substances. Recognizing the addictive properties of HPFs could help explain the large public health costs associated with a food environment dominated by inexpensive, widely available and aggressively marketed highly processed products and may inform future public health strategies.