Beyond Nutrient Composition: AGEs and Food Neo-Contaminants in Ultra-Processed Food Toxicity
- 1Departamento de Ciencias Médicas, División Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guanajuato, Campus León, León 37320, Mexico
- 2Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Bioprocesos, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6904411, Chile
- 3Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Abstract
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.
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BibTeX
@article{garaysevilla2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond Nutrient Composition: AGEs and Food Neo-Contaminants in Ultra-Processed Food Toxicity}},
author = {Ma. Eugenia Garay-Sevilla and Franco Pedreschi and Jaime Uribarri},
journal = {Nutrients},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/nu18213621},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3621},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Beyond Nutrient Composition: AGEs and Food Neo-Contaminants in Ultra-Processed Food Toxicity
AU - Ma. Eugenia Garay-Sevilla
AU - Franco Pedreschi
AU - Jaime Uribarri
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/31
JO - Nutrients
DO - 10.3390/nu18213621
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3621
AB - 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.
SN - 2072-6643
ER -