Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42167811›Full record

ArticlePublic health nutrition2026

Are ultra-processed foods really cheap? Reassessing health, equity and environmental costs across the life course in low- and middle-income countries.

Sandeep Kaur, Akashdeep Singh Chauhan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Public health nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Sandeep KaurSurgery and Cancer, https://ror.org/041kmwe10Imperial College London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3170-6703
Akashdeep Singh Chauhanhttps://ror.org/058s20p71Indian Institute of Public Health-Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ultra-processed foods, as classified by NOVA, provide a substantial and rising share of dietary energy worldwide. Manufactured from cheap refined ingredients and cosmetic additives, they are engineered for hyper-palatability, long shelf life and profit and are widely perceived as convenient, low-cost options. This commentary argues that such perceptions of 'cheapness' are misleading once health, equity and environmental impacts are considered.

Indexed as

Developing CountriesFast FoodsFood, ProcessedEnvironmentFood HandlingHumansFood marketingFood policyNon-communicable diseasesNOVA classificationSchool-based interventionsUltra-processed foods

Identifiers

PMID42167811
PMCPMC13434547

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.