European Heart Journal, May 2026 | Luigina Guasti et al., University of Insubria | European Society of Cardiology Clinical Consensus Statement
A food can have a reasonable nutrition label and still be bad for the heart. In a May consensus statement, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) concluded that ultra-processing is itself a cardiovascular risk factor, independent of calories, fat, sugar,
or sodium, and they urged cardiologists to start asking patients about it. Similar guidance could follow in North America.
Ultra-processed is not the same as processed. Steaming carrots and making yogurt are processing. The term refers to industrially manufactured products built mostly from cheap ingredients and additives, with little whole-food content: packaged snacks, soft drinks, flavored yogurts, processed meats, and most ready-to-eat cereals.
Adults with the highest consumption of ultra-processed foods had up to a 19% higher risk of coronary artery disease, a 13% higher risk of atrial fibrillation, and up to a 65% higher risk of cardiovascular death than those who ate the least. The association held across diverse populations and survived adjustment for overall diet quality, calories, and other standard risk factors.
Labels don’t fully capture what industrial processing does to food structure, the gut microbiome, inflammation, or hunger signaling. That’s why the ESC’s statement asks cardiologists to treat ultra-processed food intake as a routine counseling topic, alongside smoking, activity, and alcohol. The recommendation is simple: Build meals around whole and minimally processed foods.
