ZOE Science & Nutrition Most replayed moment: Is Our Food System Making Us Sick? | Prof Brian Elbel & Prof Tim Spector
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May 12, 2026 
Prof Tim Spector, epidemiologist specializing in gut health and ultra-processed foods, and Prof Brian Elbel, population health researcher using big data and policy levers, discuss how the food system shapes public health. They explore what counts as ultra-processed food, why these products are problematic, and policy steps like taxes, marketing limits, and school interventions to shift diets at scale.
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Population Health Is About Small Gains At Scale
- Population health looks at average effects across large groups, so small individual gains (3–5%) can be meaningful at scale.
- Brian Elbel uses large datasets collected for other purposes, like national surveys or company data, to detect these population-level shifts.
Ultra Processed Foods Dominate Modern Diets
- Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are the biggest dietary threat because they're widespread and have changed rapidly in recent decades.
- UPFs now make up 50–60% of Western food supplies, complicating long-term epidemiological comparisons.
UPFs Are Engineered To Make You Overeat
- UPFs are industrially recreated from food extracts and include ingredients you wouldn't find in a home kitchen.
- Their design emphasizes hyper-palatability and fast consumption so people eat more, sometimes addictively.