Loading
Life sciences · Journal article
Nutrients · October 31, 2026
No summary has been generated for this record yet. What follows is drawn from its source metadata only.
Journal article.
No findings were extractable from the material analysed.
Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.
The source did not state who this applies to in practice.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
This record has not been graded across any dimension yet. Treat the label above as provisional and read the source.
What is missing. This record has no bottom line, key findings, reported figures, evidence dimensions. That is a gap in the analysis, not a judgement about the study.
Worldwide consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is increasing in parallel with a rising incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and related cardiometabolic complications. Among the many features of UPFs that may drive these outcomes, industrial thermal processing is a defining characteristic that promotes the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and other food neo-contaminants, including acrylamide, furan, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol, and glycidol. This review evaluates the hypothesis that AGEs and thermally generated neo-contaminants may contribute to the adverse metabolic and toxicological effects associated with UPFs. After formation in food, these compounds may be partially absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and act systemically, promoting tissue injury through protein cross-linking, oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and activation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). Several high-temperature neo-contaminants are linked to carcinogenicity, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity, while emerging evidence also implicates them in insulin resistance, adipogenesis, β-cell dysfunction, and cardiovascular risk. Overall, the evidence supports a biologically plausible link between thermal processing, AGE and neo-contaminant burden, and cardiometabolic disease, although the strength of evidence varies by compound. Improved exposure assessment standardized analytical methods, mechanistic studies, and intervention trials are needed to define dose–response relationships and to determine whether reformulation and lower-temperature, moisture-rich cooking can reduce risk while maintaining food safety and acceptability.