Introduction: when the plate becomes an economic battleground
Public discourse about nutrition tends to focus on free choice, but the data emerging from recent investigations reveal a far more complex picture. The ultra-processed food industry, which turns over billions, has created an environment in which economic interest consistently wins out over health interest. The result is rising disease rates, backed by a well-oiled machine of lobbying and biased research.
The biological mechanism: why don’t we feel full?
One of the key scientific insights concerns the body’s physiological inability to regulate satiety when eating ultra-processed food. These foods are defined as ones that have been “stripped of their assets”: the wheat kernel is separated, leaving only simple carbohydrates to which industrial ingredients such as margarine, sugar and salt are added.
Clinical studies, such as those published in the journal The Lancet, demonstrate the dramatic effect of food processing on calorie intake:
- In a controlled trial in which participants were given the option of eating an identical amount of calories from natural food versus ultra-processed food, the group that ate ultra-processed food did not feel full.
- The direct result was an excess intake of about 500 calories a day on average in this group compared with the control group.
Epidemiology: a snapshot of disease in Israel
The consequences of this diet for public health in Israel are severe and point to a genuine epidemic:
- Obesity rates: about 60% of the adult population in Israel suffers from overweight.
- Related disease: there is a rise in serious chronic diseases such as heart failure, diabetes and fatty liver.
- Harm to teenagers: the data among young people are especially worrying. Since 2018, more than 450 bariatric (stomach-reduction) surgeries on teenagers have been documented in Israel, a rate of about 2 to 3 teenagers a month. These teenagers sometimes reach extreme weights of 150-170 kg, a condition that leads to exemption from military service and serious harm to their self-image and their future.
Industrial and regulatory manipulation
The data indicate that the food industry acts actively to shape consumption habits and to prevent effective regulation:
Product engineering to get around regulation: The food labeling reform (the “red labels”) set a threshold of 400 mg of sodium per 100 grams for labeling a product as harmful. In response, food companies make products containing sodium levels of 390-395 mg. Although the health harm is almost identical, the product avoids a warning label, creating a false impression of healthiness for the consumer.
Funding biased research: Food companies set up research institutes and fund studies designed to blur the link between their products and disease. One example is a study funded by a large chocolate manufacturer (such as Ferrero), which “surprisingly” found no link between eating snacks and weight gain.
Political pressure and repeal of taxes: The fight over the tax on sweetened beverages reveals the power of the lobbyists. Although data showed a drop of about 10% in per-capita purchases of high-sugar drinks following the tax, it was repealed under industry pressure. The pressure included threats (which turned out to be empty) of laying off thousands of workers and direct calls to decision-makers.
Summary
The reality emerging from the data is of an “obesogenic environment” (one that promotes obesity), in which products biologically engineered to bypass satiety mechanisms are aggressively marketed, backed by a system of political pressure. The result is that the price of the industry’s profits is paid by the public with its health.