Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38388570›Full record

ReviewNature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology2024

Ultra-processed foods and food additives in gut health and disease.

Kevin Whelan, Aaron S Bancil, James O Lindsay, Benoit Chassaing

Registry-linked trialOpen access · greenAbstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07271381 (THREAT), which is not on this map. Cited by 149 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
149citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
108.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07271381 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

THREAT: Testing Harms Related to Exposure to Allergenic and Epithelial Toxins

TypeinterventionalSponsorNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)Ran2026 to 2031Enrolled120ConditionsAllergic, InflammatoryArmsEnvironmental Exposures, Control Exposures
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

149 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 200 citations in OpenAlex.

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89 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Kevin WhelanDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, London, UK. kevin.whelan@kcl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5414-2950
Aaron S BancilDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1926-1919
James O LindsayBlizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Barts and the London School of Medicine, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3353-9590
Benoit ChassaingInstitut Cochin, INSERM Université Paris Cité, Paris, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4285-769X
King's College London · GBInserm · FRQueen Mary University of London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and food additives have become ubiquitous components of the modern human diet. There is increasing evidence of an association between diets rich in UPFs and gut disease, including inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer and irritable bowel syndrome. Food additives are added to many UPFs and have themselves been shown to affect gut health. For example, evidence shows that some emulsifiers, sweeteners, colours, and microparticles and nanoparticles have effects on a range of outcomes, including the gut microbiome, intestinal permeability and intestinal inflammation. Broadly speaking, evidence for the effect of UPFs on gut disease comes from observational epidemiological studies, whereas, by contrast, evidence for the effect of food additives comes largely from preclinical studies conducted in vitro or in animal models. Fewer studies have investigated the effect of UPFs or food additives on gut health and disease in human intervention studies. Hence, the aim of this article is to critically review the evidence for the effects of UPF and food additives on gut health and disease and to discuss the clinical application of these findings.

Indexed as

Food AdditivesFood, ProcessedGastrointestinal MicrobiomeAnimalsFood HandlingGastrointestinal DiseasesHumansInflammatory Bowel DiseasesFood Additives

Identifiers

PMID38388570
OpenAlexW4392035957

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.