Everyday consumption of ultra processed foods such as pre-packaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals can cut short your life, according to new research. Consumption of such foods was associated with more than 10 per cent of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019.

Although Brazilians consume far less of these products than countries with high incomes, consumption of ultra processed foods containing little or no whole foods in their ingredients contributed to 57,000 premature deaths in Brazil in 2019, investigators report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.