India's ultra-processed food sales soar 40-fold as obesity rates surge: Lancet Study

A new paper in The Lancet has sounded the alarm on the explosive rise of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption in India, drawing a stark parallel with the country’s growing obesity crisis.

Retail sales of UPFs—industrial formulations high in fat, sugar, salt and cosmetic additives—rose from just $0.9 billion in 2006 to $38 billion in 2019. During the same period, obesity rates in India doubled.

The findings are part of a three-paper series reviewing global evidence that UPFs are replacing fresh and minimally processed foods, degrading diet quality and driving a surge in chronic diseases.

The 43 researchers behind the report argue that healthier diets cannot depend solely on individual behaviour change. Instead, they call for coordinated policy action to curb UPF production, marketing and availability, while expanding access to nutritious foods.

According to the widely used Nova Food Classification System, apart from being high in sugar, salt and fat, UPFs are products largely or entirely derived from industrial ingredients and additives, containing little or no whole food.

Common examples include soda, packaged snacks, flavoured nuts, processed yogurts, alcoholic beverages and fast food. Over recent years, these products have been increasingly linked to dramatic spikes in diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even certain cancers.

The report highlights a troubling shift in India’s food environment.

Aggressive marketing, celebrity endorsements and constant promotional tactics have made UPFs ubiquitous, especially among children and young adults. Retail shelves are now dominated by packaged snacks, ready-to-eat noodles, sugary drinks, chips, biscuits and breakfast cereals.

The Lancet series



emphasises that while not all food processing is harmful, the distinction between processing and ultra-processing must be clearly understood by both policymakers and the public.

Health indicators reflect the magnitude of this shift. Between 2019 and 2021, one in four Indians—29 %—had obesity.

One in ten had diabetes, one in seven had prediabetes and two in five had abdominal obesity. Childhood obesity rose sharply as well, climbing from 2.1 to 3.4 % between 2016 and 2019–21 as per the National Family Health Survey.

DEMAND FOR STRICTER NORMS

Dr Arun Gupta, paediatrician, nutrition policy expert and one of the report’s authors, notes that India is experiencing precisely the transformation the Lancet series warns against.

He argued that traditional meals are rapidly being displaced by hyper-palatable UPFs through relentless advertising, even though India lacks precise data on UPF consumption.

Dr Gupta stressed that current regulations are insufficient to curb marketing and urges immediate action to reduce UPF consumption in order to slow the rise of obesity and diabetes.

Public health expert Dr K. Srinath Reddy, Chancellor of PHFI University of Public Health Sciences, echoed this call for stronger governance.

He advocated for robust measures addressing production, marketing and transparency regarding product composition.

Emphasising the urgent need for front-of-pack warning labels that clearly communicate harmful levels of salt, sugar and fat, Dr Reddy also warned that UPFs are “advertised addictions” that fuel widespread health problems.

“Bans on advertising and celebrity endorsements of such food products are essential to protecting public health,” he said.