India, Sept. 25 -- A higher ultra processed food (UPF) intake is linked to a heightened risk of several major chronic health issues, such as digestive diseases, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome/diabetes, as well as death, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the open access journal Family Medicine and Community Health.

Every extra 100 g consumed was associated with correspondingly greater risks, the analysis indicates.

Amid a sharp rise in global UPF consumption in recent decades, the researchers wanted to find out if there are any safe consumption levels and where the potential threshold levels for ill health might lie.

They therefore scoured research databases for relevant studies published ...