The Food Additives Most Linked to Shorter Lifespan
Is your diet restricting your longevity journey? You might be eating ingredients every day that silently shave years off your life. A major analysis from UK Biobank data has identified several common food additives that may be linked to reduced lifespan, highlighting growing concerns about ultra-processed food (UPFs). The study followed more than 186,000 adults for over a decade and examined consumption of specific “markers of ultra-processing” (MUPs) such as flavourings, colourings and sweeteners.
Why this matters?
Understanding which additives carry the most risk helps consumers make smarter choices in a food landscape where UPFs dominate supermarket shelves
What are Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) and Markers of Ultra-processing (MUPs)?
UPFs are foods that are highly industrially processed that are often rich in fat, sugar, salt and low in essential nutrients such as fibre, protein and vitamins. UPFs are designed to be irresistible- and that’s exactly the problem. With their aggressive marketing and extreme convenience, they become unavoidable.
Consumption of UPFs has been climbing globally, particularly in countries such as the UK and USA, where more than 50% of their total energy intake has been derived from UPFs, compared to just 10% in Italy.
MUPs are specific ingredients or additives that indicate a food has undergone intensive industrial processing. Instead of looking at the whole food category, MUPs zoom in on the components that make a food “ultra-processed.” These markers are defining features of UPFs, if a food contains multiple MUPs, it is almost always a UPF and this is where health concern arises.
In this study, MUPs were used to identify which individual additives might be linked to higher mortality.
Study Conclusions
Ultimately this study examined how UPF consumption and specific additive (MUPs) related to mortality (risk of death) over approximately 11 years. The three major findings included:
1. Higher intake of UPFs is associated with a higher risk of death
People who consumed more UPFs had significantly higher all-cause mortality , even after adjusting for lifestyle and socioeconomic factors. This supports previous research linking UPFs to poorer long-term health.
2. Certain MUPs were more strongly linked to mortality than others
Five categories of specific additives showed a clear association with increased mortality based on hazard ratios (HR), represents a person’s risk of death compared to baselines. In this context, a hazard ration above 1.00 means a higher risk of death. The additive consumption was determined by Total Food Intake (TFI) % :
- Artificial colourings: Artificial colours found in drinks, lollies, snacks and cereals. High intake is associated with a 24% higher mortality risk (HR=1.24). This was the strongest association in the study
- Flavour additives: Includes artificial flavours etc. People with the highest intake had a 20% higher risk of death (HR=1.2)
- Artificial sweeteners: Includes sucralose, acesulfame K, aspartame etc. Higher consumption was associated with a 14% increase in mortality (HR=1.14)
- Varieties of added sugars: Higher consumption linked with a 10% increase in mortality (HR= 1.10)
- Flavour enhancers: Includes MSG etc. High intake drove a 7% higher risk of death (HR=1.07)
3. Dose- Response Relationship
Across multiple additive categories, the study found that as intake increased, mortality risk increased proportionally. For example, eating food with only 3% colourings vs 20% colourings produced very different risks. High- additive diets consistently showed higher hazard ratios. This pattern strengthens the evidence that these additives play a meaningful role in long-term health.
What should you do?
- Limit foods with long ingredient lists
- Avoid artificial flavourings, colourings and sweeteners where possible
- Choose whole foods, minimally processed items, and natural flavour sources
- If you don’t recognise the ingredient, your body probably won’t recognise it either
- If you can’t say the ingredient, you probably shouldn’t eat it
By paying closer attention to the additives in your diet and choosing foods that fuel rather than hinder your health, take an active role in shaping a longer, more vibrant life. Longevity is built one choice at a time.
Source:
Pramanik, P. (2025). News-Medical. [online] News-Medical. Available at: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250827/Food-scientists-identify-worst-additives-for-longevity-flavours-sweeteners-and-colourings-top-list.aspx
