By Sarah McMillan/cvnznews.com
A new University of Auckland study has laid bare how ultra‑processed food (UPF) companies design and market their products to keep people eating more, even when they know the foods are unhealthy. Researchers say the system is so effective that New Zealanders now consume roughly half their diet as UPFs — a pattern linked to rising rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Led by Dr Joshua Clark, the study reviewed a decade of international research and mapped out how UPF manufacturers use a web of reinforcing tactics to drive consumption. The findings, published in Obesity Reviews, show that ingredients, marketing, product placement and even digital targeting all work together to shape behaviour.
“What we found were several reinforcing feedback loops, which all drive consumption and purchasing,” Clark says. “Our biology and our behaviour are at the centre of this system. These UPF manufacturers are very clever at this, because it makes them money.”
The study highlights strategies such as combining sugar, fat and salt to trigger cravings, suppressing the body’s natural fullness signals, and using online data to target advertising. Cartoons aimed at children, strong branding, and placing outlets near schools all contribute to what researchers describe as a “captured” food environment.
Co-author Professor Boyd Swinburn says New Zealand has been slow to act. “Half the world has taxes on sugary drinks but for some reason, political timidity and fear of the UPF industry has meant that we have zero strategies in place to deal with our epidemic of rising obesity.”
The researchers point to international examples — from Chile’s ban on marketing high‑sugar foods to children, to Brazil’s limits on UPFs in school meals — as evidence that policy can shift consumption patterns.
Clark says the issue goes beyond personal choice. “Our social norms, daily routines, cultural practices and even our brains’ reward systems have been conditioned as part of this system. Shining a light on this is an opportunity for people to ask, advocate and demand action.”
The authors call for New Zealand to adopt World Health Organization‑recommended policies to curb UPF consumption and rebuild a food environment that supports health rather than corporate profit.