Why are ultra processed foods so popular?

Ultra-processed foods are manufactured products that are convenient, highly palatable, and shelf-stable, which helps explain their widespread popularity. This article examines the economic, social, and technological factors that has driven their popularity.

This article is from the Nutrition section of our Library.

About This Series

This is Article 2 of a 4-part series exploring UPFs, what they are, how they came into existence, how they affect your health, and how to stop eating them.

If you want to understand what ultra-processed foods are and how they’re classified, read our first article in this series.

In just a few decades, UPFs have moved from speciality items to dietary staples. In many high-income countries, these products now provide more than half of daily calories. This shift represents one of the most significant changes to eating patterns in human history.

Understanding why this happened requires looking beyond individual food choices. The rise of UPFs reflects changes in food production, economic systems, work patterns, and the environment. No single factor explains their dominance.

Instead, multiple forces seem to have converged to make these products both ubiquitous and appealing. A perfect storm, or maybe just a product of their environment.

A brief history of ultra processed food

For most of human history, food preparation happened at home or in small-scale commercial settings (like restaurants or pubs). Preservation methods like drying, salting, and fermenting were used to extend shelf life, but didn't fundamentally transform food.

The Industrial Revolution changed this. Canning technology in the early 1800s allowed foods to last months without refrigeration. By the early 1900s, commercial food processing expanded with the invention of refrigeration, pasteurisation, and mechanised production methods.

The real acceleration came after World War II. Military rations had shown that food could be shelf-stable, portable, and engineered for a specific purpose.

These technologies have then been transferred to civilian markets. Frozen dinners appeared in the 1950s. Instant foods became popular in the 1960s. By the 1980s and 1990s, food science had advanced to create products with precisely controlled taste, texture, and stability.

Research shows that UPF consumption began rising sharply in high-income countries during the 1980s and has continued increasing in many regions since, and continues to rise.

Despite consumption rising pretty much everywhere, UPF intake patterns vary in different regions and among different people. These patterns can reveal a bit about the reasons why UPFs became so popular.

Who eats ultra processed food

Geography

High-income countries generally show the highest UPF consumption. In the United States and the United Kingdom, studies suggest that UPFs provide 50 to 60% of total energy intake. Canada, Australia, and several European nations eat similar amounts.

Middle-income countries are also experiencing rapid increases. Brazil, Mexico, and Chile have seen substantial rises in UPF consumption over recent decades.

In many rural lower-income countries, traditional diets still predominate, but urban areas now show increasing UPF availability and intake.

Age

Children and adolescents often consume higher proportions of UPFs than adults. Research from multiple countries shows that UPFs frequently constitute 60 to 70% of children's energy intake in high-consumption settings.

Young adults tend to eat more UPFs, possibly reflecting time constraints, lack of cooking skills, and food environments on college campuses or in early career settings.

Wealth

Poorer people in high-income countries tend to consume more UPFs, probably due to cost and being easy to buy.

However, in middle and lower-income countries, higher-income groups sometimes show greater UPF intake, as these products signal modernity and status.

Education level, food literacy, and access to cooking facilities also influence consumption patterns. These factors often interact in ways that make it difficult to target specific groups of people as driving UPF consumption.

Why people eat ultra processed food

UPFs didn't become widespread by accident. They offer genuine advantages that complement modern lifestyles.

Convenience

Perhaps no factor matters more than convenience. UPFs require minimal preparation. Many need only opening or brief heating. This matters enormously for people juggling work, family care, and other responsibilities.

Cooking from basic ingredients takes time, skill, and energy. After a long workday, preparing a meal from scratch can feel daunting or exhausting. Opening a package feels manageable. This isn't laziness. It's a rational response to people who have limited free time.

Cost

UPFs tend to cost less per calorie than fresh foods, particularly fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed lean proteins. A frozen pizza might feed a family for less than fresh ingredients for a comparable meal.

However, some UPF products are also more expensive. The cost advantage often depends on what else is available (e.g., specific products, local markets or whole foods).

Shelf Life

UPFs last weeks or months without refrigeration. For households without reliable transport to shops, adequate storage space, or predictable schedules, shelf-life matters. It reduces food waste and the frequency of shopping trips.

This advantage particularly benefits people in “food deserts”, those with limited mobility, and families managing unpredictable schedules.

Palatability and Consistency

Food manufacturers invest heavily in creating products that are tasty and can be produced consistently. Every bag of chips or chocolate looks and tastes the same. This predictability has value.

The engineered palatability of UPFs isn't necessarily problematic in itself. However, research suggests these products may be formulated in ways that encourage overconsumption, as they can be consumed more quickly and easily.

Availability

In many areas, UPFs are simply more available than alternatives. Convenience stores, vending machines, gas stations, work cafeterias and coffee shops tend to stock UPFs almost exclusively with limited fresh options.

This isn't accidental. Distribution networks favour shelf-stable products with higher profit margins. Perishable foods require more complicated and costly logistics, preparation, storage, and display management. Boxes are stackable, apples aren’t.

“Modern Lifestyles”

The rise of UPFs occurred alongside changes in how people live and work. These changes created conditions where UPFs became not just convenient but necessary for many.

Average work hours have increased in many countries over recent decades. More households have all adults employed outside the home. Commute times have lengthened. These changes compress the time available for food preparation.

Shift work and irregular schedules further complicate meal planning. When work hours vary, maintaining regular cooking routines becomes difficult.

In addition to extra work hours, people also report having more obligations: childcare, elder care, education, and household maintenance all compete for limited time. As a result, less time is given to cooking three times a day, seven days a week.

Studies examining time use and dietary patterns find consistent associations between time pressure and increased UPF consumption.

The way we get food has also changed. Traditional markets where people bought fresh ingredients daily have declined in many areas. Supermarkets located in suburban areas require a car.

Urban corner shops, within walking distance, increasingly stock packaged foods rather than whole foods.

The number of fast food outlets and convenience stores has grown in recent decades. These businesses create environments where UPFs are the default, most visible, and easiest option to eat. This has made healthier choices more difficult.

Marketing and Availability

Food companies spend billions on marketing UPFs. Children are bombarded with food adverts, predominantly for UPFs. These messages shape preferences and normalise eating UPFs.

Product placement, promotional pricing, and dominant shelf spacing in stores all direct consumers toward UPF options. This has been shown to influence decision-making, particularly when your ‘cognitive resources’ are limited by stress or tiredness.

Social and Cultural Dimensions

Food choices don't tend to happen in isolation. Social norms, cultural traditions, and community practices all shape eating habits.

Social eating occasions nearly always feature UPFs. Birthday parties, workplace gatherings, and casual social meetings often centre around packaged snacks, soft drinks, and other UPFs. Opting out can feel socially awkward.

Lack of time or change in culture has meant that fewer people are learning to cook as they grow up. For people who can’t prepare meals from basic whole ingredients, UPFs fill this gap.

Things Beyond Individual Control

While personal choices matter, they don’t occur in a vacuum. Governments and societies choose to do certain things that influence food choices.

Agricultural subsidies in many countries tend to favour commodity crops used in UPFs (e.g., corn, soy, wheat) rather than whole fruits and vegetables. This affects relative prices.

Transportation infrastructure connects factories to supermarkets efficiently, but may leave some communities without access to fresh food.

Food welfare programs sometimes inadvertently favour UPFs. Simply encouraging or educating people to make better food choices is often futile if the whole environment is based around UPFs.

An Alternative Perspective

There is a reason UPFs are so popular. They solve real problems people have with time, cost, and accessibility. Food systems have consequently evolved to make UPFs ubiquitous and the easiest choice available.

Most people simply work within the environment they live in and make the most convenient choice in their given circumstance — usually the path of least resistance.

So, addressing the UPF problem likely requires more than “make better choices” or “just learn to cook”. If it were that simple, it would have been done by now.

Looking Forward

UPFs dominate, and they are part of most people’s everyday lives. But what are the health implications of this dietary shift? As UPF consumption increased, so has the research into them. The next article examines the impact of UPFs on your health.

Next in this series: The Health Effects of Ultra-Processed Foods.