A/71/282 food production and maximizing efficiency at the lowest possible economic cost and relies on industrialized agriculture, including monocropping and factory farming, industrial food processing and mass distribution and marketing. Reflecting their affordability, availability and aggressive marketing strategies, industrialized food products constitute a very significant portion of the world’s food sales. 21 23. The impact of industrial food systems on nutrition and public health is alarming. Monocropping depends heavily on chemical inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, while animals grown on factory farms are given growth hormones and antibiotics. The food processing industry uses preservatives, artificial colourants, additives and other chemicals in order to enhance the appearance, flavour and shelf life of food products. Ultraprocessed foods may also contain high levels of sodium, sugar, trans-fats and saturated fats, so that they are energy dense yet lacking in nutritional value. 22 C. Unhealthy eating habits and non-communicable diseases 24. Diets based on highly processed “denatured” foods contribute to non-communicable diseases, which are shortening the human lifespan. According to WHO, such diseases are collectively responsible for almost 70 per cent of all deaths worldwide, and this is expected to rise to 75 per cent by 2020. 23 The consumption of unhealthy foods has been determined to be an important factor that increases the risk of non-communicable diseases, reinforcing the damage done by tobacco use, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity. 24 25. Increases in unhealthy eating habits are outpacing increases in healthy ones throughout most of the world. While improvements in diet quality have been greatest in high-income nations, people living in many of the wealthiest countries still have among the poorest-quality diets in the world, because they have some of the highest consumption rates of unhealthy food. An alarming pattern is also emerging in formerly low-income countries as they become richer. 25 26. Increased meat, sodium, sugar and fat consumption are causing diets to become less healthy. High sodium consumption raises blood pre ssure, raising the risks of heart disease and strokes, while excessive sugar consumption is associated with weight gain. While meat and other livestock products provide high -value protein and are sources of micronutrients, their overconsumption leads to ex cessive intakes of fat and sodium. As early as 2002, WHO recommended moderating processed meat consumption to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). The Global Burden of Disease __________________ 21 22 23 24 25 8/24 A/HRC/26/31, paras. 5-6. Marion Nestle, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, revised ed. (Los Angeles, California, University of California Press, 2013); Rob Moodie and others, “Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultraprocessed food and drink industries”, The Lancet, vol. 381, No. 9867 (February 2013). Interview with Fumiaki Imamura, lead researcher of the study entitled “Dietary quality among men and women in 187 countries in 1990 and 2010: a systematic assessment ” (2015). WHO, “Non-communicable diseases”, fact sheet, January 2015. Fumiaki Imamura and others, “Dietary quality among men and women in 187 countries in 1990 and 2010: a systematic assessment”, The Lancet Global Health, vol. 3, No. 3 (March 2015). 16-13441