A warning about the effects of the shift towards ultra-processed food

The rapid homogenisation of human and livestock diets around the world will bring massive costs in the long run, argues Harry Cockburn

A wave of homogeneity across the world is standardising unhealthy human diets and damaging ecosystems (Getty)

A "globalised diet" of ultra-processed, factory-assembled food is what the humans of the 21st century are eating.

Reconstituted meat, industrially-produced pizza, pasta and instant noodles, alongside highly sweetened and salted snacks, soft drinks and confectionery are among the items "becoming dominant in the global food supply," according to a new analysis.

It is unlikely to surprise anyone that this kind of diet, in which an array of substances consisting of commodity ingredients and "cosmetic" additives, such as flavours, colours and emulsifiers, is not good for human health.