Emulsifiers in ultra-processed foods in the UK food supply

Abstract

Objective: Ultra-processed foods (UPF), including those containing food-additive emulsifiers, have received research attention due to evidence implicating them in the pathogenesis of certain diseases. The aims of this research were to develop a large-scale, brand-level database of UPFs in the UK food supply and to characterise the occurrence and co-occurrence of food-additive emulsifiers. Design: A database was compiled sampling UPF groups contributing to total dietary energy intake in the UK from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-2014). Every food in these UPF groups were identified from online supermarket provision from the ‘‘big four’’ supermarkets that dominate the market share in the UK, comprising Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons. Results: A total of 32,719 food products in the UK supermarket food supply were returned in searches. Of these, 12,844 UPF products were eligible and manually reviewed for the presence of emulsifiers. Emulsifiers were present in 6,642 (51.7%) food products. Emulsifiers were contained in 95.0% of ‘‘Pastries, buns and cakes’’; 81.9% of ‘‘Milk-based drinks”, 81.0% in ‘‘Industrial desserts’’ and in 77.5% of “Confectionary”. Fifty-one percent of all emulsifier-containing foods contained multiple emulsifiers. Across emulsifier-containing foods there were a median of 2 emulsifiers (IQR 2) per product. The five most common emulsifiers were lecithin (23.4% of all UPF), mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (14.5%), diphosphates (11.6%), xanthan gum and pectin (8.0%). Conclusions: Findings from this study are the first to demonstrate the wide-spread occurrence and co-occurrence of emulsifiers in UPF in the UK food supply.