How researchers measure what people eat—like using a food survey vs. asking about one day’s meals—can change how risky ultra-processed foods seem by over 50%. The method used really affects the results.

Eating ultra-processed foods seems more strongly linked to fatty liver disease when scientists use 24-hour diet recalls instead of food questionnaires — and the risk looks 35% higher with the recall method.

People who already have kidney problems or are older are more likely to be harmed by eating ultra-processed foods than healthy younger people.

Eating a lot of ultra-processed foods, like packaged snacks and sugary drinks, is linked to a higher chance of becoming obese — about one-third more likely — based on data from hundreds of thousands of adults followed over time.

Studies have found that people who eat a lot of packaged and processed foods are more likely to get certain types of cancer, but we can't say for sure if the foods directly cause the cancer because of how the studies were done.

Eating more ultra-processed foods, like packaged snacks and ready meals, might raise your chances of getting cancer by 13% for every extra 10% of these foods in your diet.