--- title: Study: There May Be a Link Between Processed Food and Cancer description: According to a new study, there may be a link between highly processed foods and cancer. These foods include soda, baked goods and more. canonical: https://time.com/5157885/processed-foods-cancer/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-14T23:30:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:16:52.788Z article:section: Health og:title: This Is the Link Between Processed Foods and Cancer og:description: A new study finds that snacks, desserts and soda are associated with the disease og:url: https://time.com/5157885/processed-foods-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8e5c1f6de20c26/698878bb2dce011a299e74d9/french-fries-3-junk-food-diet-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: french-fries-3-junk-food-diet-health-motto-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is the Link Between Processed Foods and Cancer twitter:description: A new study finds that snacks, desserts and soda are associated with the disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e8e5c1f6de20c26/698878bb2dce011a299e74d9/french-fries-3-junk-food-diet-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ultra-Processed Food Linked to Cancer, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 14, 2018 11:30 PM UTC  Molly Cranna for TIME  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 14, 2018 11:30 PM UTC Processed snacks, drinks and desserts may be associated with a higher risk of cancer, according to a new study. [The research](http://www.bmj.com/user/login?destination=node/965453), published Wednesday in _The BMJ_, focused on ultra-processed foods**,** which tend to be high in fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. (Past research has found that Americans [get 61% of their calories from highly processed foods](http://time.com/3888102/processed-food-sugar-fat/).) In the new study, researchers found that, among almost 150,000 French adults, a 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in a person’s diet was correlated with a 12% higher risk of cancer. The paper is the first to explore the link between cancer and ultra-processed foods — that is, industrial formulations that typically contain many ingredients, including some not found in the typical kitchen — says study author Mathilde Touvier, an investigator at the Sorbonne Paris Cité Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center. The research only uncovered patterns in the data, meaning it’s impossible at this point to say that ultra-processed foods cause cancer, Touvier cautions. Nonetheless, the correlation was striking. During the five years of study follow-up, about 2,200 people were diagnosed with cancer. In addition to the 12% increase in overall cancer risk, the researchers found that eating processed food regularly was linked to an 11% increase in the odds of getting breast cancer and a “borderline significant” increase in the risk of colorectal cancer. (Only 153 people got colorectal cancer, and Touvier says she believes there weren’t enough cases to prove an association.) No strong connection was observed between ultra-processed foods and prostate cancer. Not all processed foods appeared to be equal. Drinks, sugary products, fats and sauces were most strongly associated with a heightened cancer risk, according to the paper, while sugary processed foods were most strongly linked to breast cancer. The poor nutritional quality of ultra-processed foods likely contributes to their negative effects on health. For one, processed foods are often high in inflammatory constituents, like sugar and certain fats, and chronic inflammation can increase cancer risk. But Touvier says the study suggests that other elements may be responsible for their association with cancer. Other possible triggers could be food additives—”some of which are quite controversial, [with animal studies suggesting](http://time.com/4559107/processed-food-additive-emulsifier-cancer/) potential carcinogenic properties,” Touvier says—as well as [materials found in processed food packaging](http://www.health.com/food/fast-food-chemicals-in-wrappers-pfas). Other possibilities include potentially cancer-causing compounds, [such as acrylamide](http://time.com/5126779/california-coffee-cancer-warning/), which are produced during the industrial preparation process, she adds. It will take further research to understand which of these hypotheses, if any, is valid, Touvier says, so it’s too soon to panic. “We don’t want to be too alarmist,” she says. “We need other studies to confirm the results, and to increase the understanding of the mechanisms. 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