05/25/2026
A landmark review published in *The Milbank Quarterly* by researchers from Harvard, Duke, and the University of Michigan examined why UPFs mirror to***co products:
**Designed for Addiction:** Much like big to***co companies engineered ci******es to deliver ni****ne to the brain in seconds, UPFs are industrially engineered delivery systems. They strip out natural fibers to accelerate how fast the body processes sugar and fat, triggering rapid dopamine spikes.
**The “Hyperpalatable” Formula:** Nature doesn’t combine high fats and high carbohydrates in the same food. UPFs artificially marry them (think chips, cookies, fast food) to override the human brain’s natural fullness signals, driving compulsive, habitual overeating.
**Health-Washing:** The study noted that food corporations use marketing tactics identical to early to***co strategies—such as labeling heavily engineered foods as “low-fat,” “organic,” or “heart-healthy” (akin to marketing “light” or “filtered” ci******es) to obscure health risks.
