Canadian study links ultra-processed foods to over a third of cardiovascular deaths

A new study from Canada has quantified something doctors have long suspected: the foods we grab in a hurry are killing us in measurable numbers. Researchers found that ultra-processed foods—the ready meals, sugary cereals, instant noodles, and fast food that line supermarket shelves and dominate convenience stores—account for between 23 and 38 percent of all cardiovascular deaths in Canada. The finding, presented at the World Obesity Federation's International Congress on Obesity in Mexico and published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, suggests that more than 8,300 Canadian lives could be saved each year if people simply halved their consumption of these foods.

The scale of the problem becomes clearer when you look at what Canadians actually eat. On average, ultra-processed foods make up 43 percent of total daily energy intake for adults over 20. These aren't fringe products—they're the dominant category of food available to most people. The researchers used comparative risk assessment methods, drawing on nationally representative dietary data from 2015 and Canadian health statistics on cardiovascular outcomes from 2019. What they found was stark: between 23 and 38 percent of cardiovascular events that year were attributable to these foods. Cardiovascular disease itself already accounts for about 25 percent of all deaths in Canada annually, making it one of the nation's leading killers.

In the United Arab Emirates, the problem is even more acute. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for around 40 percent of all deaths, making it the single leading cause of death in the country. This is why doctors there have begun sounding alarms in response to the Canadian research. Dr. Wesam Wahid Labib Fahum Khalil, a cardiology specialist at Medcare Royal Speciality Hospital in Dubai, points out that young people are increasingly vulnerable. Ultra-processed foods are cheap, widely available, heavily marketed, and fit easily into busy lives. When consumption begins in childhood or adolescence and continues into adulthood, it sets the stage for weight gain, insulin resistance, and high blood pressure at ages when these conditions should not yet be appearing. The damage accumulates: although cardiovascular disease typically takes years to develop, these dietary habits accelerate the timeline considerably.

Dr. Fiji Antony, chief clinical dietitian at NMC Specialty Hospital in Dubai, says the Canadian findings align precisely with what she sees in her patients. Those eating diets high in ultra-processed foods show higher rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, abnormal cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease. While she notes the study uses modeling and cannot definitively prove causation, the results match what current evidence already suggests about the relationship between ultra-processed food intake and heart disease risk. The foods in question are easy to identify: sugary soft drinks and energy drinks, fast food, processed meats, packaged crisps, instant noodles, sweetened breakfast cereals, and commercially baked pastries. They share common characteristics—high in salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats, loaded with additives, but low in fiber and essential nutrients.

Several countries have already begun experimenting with policy solutions. Chile introduced front-of-package nutritional warnings that reduced purchases of high-calorie foods by roughly a quarter. Mexico implemented a 10 percent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, which led to a 6.3 percent reduction in ultra-processed food consumption overall. The UAE itself introduced a similar sugar tax in 2020, and a World Health Organisation review found it effective: sales of sugary drinks dropped from 7.4 percent to 5.9 percent. In February of this year, Abu Dhabi went further, banning the advertising of fast food entirely in an effort to reduce obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.

Yet policy alone may not be enough. Research presented at the same obesity conference suggests that supermarkets themselves bear responsibility for the food environment they create. The world's largest supermarket chains—Walmart, Edeka, Spar—have done little to steer customers toward healthier choices, relying instead on voluntary initiatives that experts say lack real impact. Only two of the world's 21 largest supermarket chains, Aldi Australia and Lidl Germany, have implemented what researchers consider genuinely impactful actions to create healthier food environments. Professor Adrian Cameron from Deakin University's Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition argues that voluntary commitments from retailers are insufficient. "When it's clear retailers won't take significant action themselves, we need to see governments urgently introduce mandatory, legally binding standards," he said.

Dr. Virginie Hamel from Montreal University's Centre for Public Health Research emphasizes that ultra-processed food consumption represents a substantial and potentially preventable contributor to the burden of cardiovascular disease. The findings reinforce the need for clinical and public health interventions aimed at reducing intake as a key component of disease prevention. The authors of the study believe their results apply beyond Canada to other high-income countries, including the UAE, since the modeling relied on risk estimates from comparable wealthy nations. What happens next depends on whether governments are willing to move beyond voluntary measures and implement the mandatory standards, food taxes, front-of-package labeling, marketing restrictions, and reformulation targets that evidence suggests could meaningfully reduce consumption and save lives.