A new commentary connects the dots between two distinct, but related global challenges: plastics and ultra-processed foods (UPFs). 

Cheap, lightweight and highly functional, plastics have enabled business models to create demand for low-cost, mass-produced and hyper-palatable UPFs among populations worldwide, hungry or not. 

The paper, published in Globalization and Health, unites diverse research communities to draw attention to the interdependence between plastics and UPFs; the combined harms they are causing; and why tackling them together could be effective. 

The authors explore how the lifecycles and shared economic benefits of UPFs and plastics interact, cautioning that the scale of their harms is underappreciated, with thousands of plastic food contact chemicals (FCCs) known to migrate into foodstuffs. Some of these are hazardous and have been detected in humans and the broader environment, while many are yet to be adequately tested. 

In the context of ongoing negotiations for a legally binding global treaty to end plastics pollution, and rapidly growing concern about the burgeoning share of UPFs in diets worldwide, the authors propose key steps for addressing these dual crises together.  

Read the full comentary