🧪 “Most UPF is not food - it’s an industrially produced edible substance.”
— Chris Van Tulleken
In Ultra-Processed People, physician and broadcaster Chris Van Tulleken delivers a sobering wake-up call about one of the most destructive influences on human health today: ultra-processed foods (UPFs). These aren’t just snacks or fast-food favorites. They are highly engineered, lab-created substances that dominate our grocery store shelves, our kids’ lunch boxes, and our own daily diets - especially on the road.
For truck drivers, who often rely on packaged meals and convenience store stops, this issue is particularly urgent. Van Tulleken doesn’t just sound the alarm - he rips it from the wall and throws it in your lap.
According to Van Tulleken, UPFs are not real food. They are manufactured concoctions of the cheapest, industrially altered components of the three macronutrients - fats, carbs, and proteins - stitched together with additives, stabilizers, colors, and flavors. The goal? Shelf-stability, low production costs, centralized distribution, and addictive taste profiles that drive excess consumption.
The shocking part isn’t just what’s in them - it’s what they replace. UPFs are deliberately engineered to mimic traditional, nourishing foods but with none of the same benefits. They’re built for speed and scale, not human health.
“The aim of UPF is to replace the ingredients of a traditional and much loved food with cheaper alternatives and additives that extend shelf life, facilitate centralized distribution and drive excess consumption.”
Van Tulleken draws a bold line between food and UPFs. While many of us assume packaged granola bars, diet drinks, or protein shakes are “healthy” options, most are actually industrially processed edible substances - not food by any meaningful definition.
These products disrupt how we eat and why we eat, reducing meals to short, utilitarian fuel stops. The rise of UPFs has been swift and almost invisible, sliding into our diets over just a few decades - a flash in evolutionary terms. In doing so, they have reshaped how we relate to hunger, satisfaction, and nourishment itself.
A standout moment in the book is Van Tulleken’s take on supplements. Despite clever marketing and scientific-sounding claims, no supplement, vitamin, or antioxidant has been shown to reduce disease or mortality in healthy people.
“Fish oil doesn’t benefit us - but oily fish do.”
The message is clear: nutrients only work in the context of real food. The magic isn’t in the pill - it’s in the plate.
One of the boldest claims Van Tulleken makes is that modern obesity isn’t just a public health issue - it’s a “commerciogenic disease”: a condition directly caused by corporate strategy.
Just as cigarettes were once advertised as doctor-approved, UPFs are now normalized, heavily marketed, and even subsidized in many countries. The industry thrives on volume, repeat purchases, and cradle-to-grave loyalty. Health doesn’t factor into the equation - profit does.
If you're on the road for hours, grabbing food between loads and relying on quick stops, you’re in the UPF danger zone every day. These foods are engineered for long shelf life, not long life.
And for drivers - a workforce with the highest obesity rate of any profession - the stakes couldn’t be higher. The average packaged food or truck stop snack is not simply unhealthy… it may literally not be food at all.
Ultra-Processed People is not just a book about food - it’s a book about power. It reveals how the food industry quietly took over our diets, our health, and even our biology. But with knowledge comes power - the power to choose better, to eat smarter, and to take back control over what nourishes your body.
Whether you're behind the wheel or at home with your family, knowing the difference between food and a food-like substance could be the most important decision you make all day.