Ultra-processed foods are designed to create addiction like cigarettes, confirmations from the new study

A new study from the University of Michigan suggests that ultra-processed foods could be addictive. (iStock)

When walking through the supermarket it is literally impossible not to notice how much ultra-processed stuff is present, so much so that finding something simple has become almost always a challenge. In this regard I was reading a study published in Milbank Quarterly by researchers from Michigan, Duke, and Harvard, and the data only confirm how these foods, besides clearly not being healthy, are malevolently designed to create the need for compulsive consumption, so much so that they can be compared to cigarettes. And this is not a casual comparison between junk food and cigarettes: the data show how both industries use precise strategies to create addiction.

For example, the work documents how calibrated combinations of sugar and fat in ultra-processed foods can increase dopamine up to 300% above baseline. What does this mean? That eating those foods makes us "feel good" and pushes the brain to consume more to continue this sense of well-being... which is the same principle used by nicotine in cigarettes, all designed to give immediate pleasure. It is not just the taste, it is the speed with which it reaches the brain: food and smoke are “pre-digested”, “pre-assimilated” industrially to create instant effects, the researchers document.

The study also highlights another strategy: the so-called “short hang time” of pleasure. The taste explodes, but fades quickly, pushing you to consume again. It is the same logic as nicotine, transferred to food: rapid peaks, sudden drops, immediate desire for a new dose. And all of this happens in an environment designed to favor repetition: everywhere, always available, portable, and convenient. It is not at all different from how drugs work in the end, right?

And then there is the side where people are further deceived with “health washing”. “Sugar-free”, “light”, or “protein-enriched” labels create the illusion of safety, while the combination that generates addiction remains intact. Just like “light” cigarettes in the 1950s, the researchers explain.

And at the supermarket I see people buying every possible junk imaginable, carts full of cookies, chips, sugary drinks, candies, puddings... and then they give all of these to small children, thus immediately starting them on this addiction while also causing health damage. Every ultra-processed product is the result of calculated strategies to trick the brain and make us come back again and again.

All the more reason to buy unprocessed foods, with few ingredients, and cook as much as possible yourself becomes a necessity, not only for health but also to avoid creating addiction and slavery.

References: Gearhardt A. N., Brownell K. D., Brandt A. M. From Tobacco to Ultraprocessed Food: How Industry Engineering Fuels the Epidemic of Preventable Disease. The Milbank Quarterly. Original Research, Open Access. First published: 02 February 2026. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.70066