If you eat ultra-processed food, which is food and drink that has undergone certain forms of treatment, you have up to a 50 percent greater chance of getting cancer.

Examples of such food are ice cream, crisps, biscuits, frozen pizza, sausages, soft drinks (sugary drinks), cheese in a tube and cereal.

Increased consumption of ultra-processed food significantly increases the risk of cancer. This applies both in general, and especially in cancers such as breast cancer, bowel cancer and pancreatic cancer, says Simon Dankel, professor at the Faculty of Medicine at UiB, to NRK.

The cancer study of the Mohn Nutrition Research Laboratory at UiB examines eleven international investigations. It is the first study to bring together all research on cancer and ultra-processed food and to see the results in context.

The study has recently been published in the international journal Clinical Nutrition.

The average in the studies shows a 10-20 percent increased cancer risk due to this type of food. Certain studies show up to a 50 percent increased risk for some types of cancer.

We cannot point to certain foods. We don’t know what in the ultra-processed food is carcinogenic, says Dankel, and adds:

In the last fifty years, there has been a big change in how we produce our food. This has happened without the consequences having been mapped in a proper way.