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Strategies to Reduce Risks of Ultraprocessed Foods: Mingyang Song, MBBS, ScD
Mingyang Song, MBBS, ScD, expands upon the link between ultraprocessed foods and cancer risks, emphasizing the need for better dietary choices and further research.
In part 2 of an interview at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025, Mingyang Song, MBBS, ScD, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shares strategies for mitigating the risks of ultraprocessed foods and highlights areas for future research and policy initiatives.
Watch part 1 to learn more about the link between ultraprocessed foods and cancer risk.
This transcript has been lightly edited; captions were auto-generated.
Transcript
What steps can individuals take to mitigate the risks associated with ultraprocessed foods?
The evidence is still emerging regarding how ultraprocessed food may influence cancer risk, but, based on the evidence so far, I think one recommendation we can make is for individuals to try to reduce their consumption of ultraprocessed food and try to choose whole foods or fresh foods for their daily diet.
As I mentioned earlier, ultraprocessed foods have very different nutrient profiles and also have many food additives that can cause problems. I think it's wise for individuals to try to reduce, not completely eliminate, ultraprocessed foods from their diet.
Looking ahead, what research or policy efforts show the most promise in reducing diet-related cancer risks?
On the research side, for ultraprocessed food, we definitely need more research. One of the major future research directions is to improve the quantification and classification of ultraprocessed foods.
There are so many different foods included in this general ultraprocessed food category. They can have very diverse nutrient profiles. For example, whole grains are also considered ultraprocessed foods, but there has been very convincing evidence suggesting that whole grains are indeed beneficial for cancer. We need a better classification system to better quantify and classify the ultraprocessed food with varying qualities.
Given the limited evidence, we couldn't really draw any strong policy implications. For dietary exposure in general, so far, probably the most effective policy change is tax.
There have been some countries adopting the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, which has been shown to reduce cardiometabolic diseases and also to improve the general metabolic health in the population. I think that that's one direction that future research may help inform.
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