Ultra-processed food (UPFs) are delicious, easily available and cheap. Due to these factors, people are opting for these UPFs and consuming them in large quantities. Consumption of these not only increases the calorie intake, but also contributes to several diseases including the risk of mouth cancer. UPFs like bread, breakfast cereals, ham, ice cream and chips are on the list of foods that can cause 34 different cancers, according to the largest cohort British study in Europe — the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Researchers from the University of Britain and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) worked to identify whether links between UPF consumption and head and neck cancers in the EPIC cohort may be the explanation for extra body fat.

The research involved nearly half a million people for more than a decade and found that those who ate more UPFs had a higher risk of developing the cancer cells in their upper aerodigestive tract which also included the oesophagus. They also mentioned that consuming 10 percent of UPFs has a 23 percent higher risk of developing head and neck cancer and a 24 percent higher risk of oesophagus cancer.

Here are the four UPF items that have been listed by the British Heart Foundation, which are commonly consumed during breakfast in Europe.

Sausages

Consuming too much red meat and processed meat causes 18 percent of bowel cancer cases. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also classified processed meat as a Class 1 carcinogen because certain chemicals in processed meats can cause them to be carcinogenic.

2. Breakfast cereal

Acrylamide (a chemical) can form in some foods including in the packaged breakfast cereals, during the high-temperature cooking processes. The chemical produced during the thermal processing of carbohydrate-rich foods is considered carcinogenic to humans.

3. Mass-produced Bread

A study by the Indian Centre of Science and Environment found that 84 percent of 38 bread brands carry chemicals known to cause cancer. In the sample of breads, the researchers found potassium bromate which is a category 2B carcinogen which causes cancer. Potassium iodate is also known to trigger thyroid issues.

4. Fruit-flavoured yoghurt

Some flavoured yoghurt may contain aspartame (artificial sweetener) that has been already declared as a “possible carcinogenic” to humans by WHO. Even though there is limited evidence of its carcinogenicity in humans.