UNSAFE AT ANY AMOUNT –
July 8, 2025 – Researchers conclude that these conservative estimates support existing public-health recommendations urging reductions in consumption of processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and industrial trans fats.
Sugar-sweetened beverages remain the primary dietary source of added sugars in many populations, contributing to weight gain, cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk.
Artificial trans fats, created to solidify vegetable oils, have been associated with systemic inflammation and coronary heart disease.
Clarity about dose-response relationships has been limited by variability in data availability and inconsistent findings across studies.
In the study, “Health effects associated with consumption of processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and trans fatty acids: a Burden of Proof study,” published in Nature Medicine, researchers applied Burden of Proof meta-regression methods to evaluate the associations between processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and trans fatty acids and the risk of type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease and colorectal cancer.
