Australia’s obesity and diabetes epidemic is spiralling out of control. One of the biggest culprits? The ultra-processed foods dominating supermarket shelves. These products now make up over 40% of Australians' daily energy intake, fuelling skyrocketing rates of chronic disease.
Supermarkets have become profit-driven playgrounds for food corporations, dedicating entire aisles to ice cream, soft drinks, and chips—none of which carry health warnings despite their well-documented risks. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, which are restricted for under-18s, these high-sugar, ultra-processed products can be consumed from infancy, causing irreversible metabolic damage before a child even reaches adulthood.
And it’s not just the obvious junk food. The real deception lies in health-washing—a marketing tactic where ultra-processed foods are disguised as “healthy” with misleading claims like “low fat,” “no added sugar,” or “high in whole grains.” These labels create a false sense of nutrition, leading consumers to believe they are making smarter choices when, in reality, they are fuelling the same health risks as traditional junk food.
Take muesli bars, for example. Marketed as a nutritious snack, many are packed with refined sugars, processed vegetable oils, and artificial additives—far from the wholesome oats-and-nuts image on the packaging. Flavoured yogurts are another prime example, often containing as much sugar as a soft drink despite being marketed as a “healthy” snack. Then there’s wholegrain chips, which sound like a better alternative but are still deep-fried, heavily salted, and ultra-processed with only a fraction of the fibre found in actual whole grains.
Consumers are being systematically misled. Supermarkets and food manufacturers exploit regulatory loopholes that allow them to plaster “health halos” on ultra-processed products, while their real nutritional value (or lack thereof) remains buried in the fine print. Studies show that the more ultra-processed foods a person consumes, the higher their risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Supermarkets are no longer just places to buy food—they are multi-billion-dollar businesses designed to maximize sales, not health. Ultra-processed foods are more profitable than fresh produce, leading supermarkets to prioritize shelf space for high-margin products, often placing them at eye level or near checkouts to drive impulse purchases.
The result? Australians are unknowingly filling their trolleys with foods that contribute to poor health, not realizing how little true nutrition they are getting.
Without urgent regulatory intervention, this will only get worse. The food industry has proven time and again that it will not self-regulate. It’s time for stricter labelling laws, marketing restrictions, and greater transparency on ultra-processed foods.
How long can we allow profit-driven corporations to dictate the health of an entire nation?
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