One Health: A Call for Action and Accountability

Virtual Webinar as Part of the One Health Summit: One Health Festival. Translation in Spanish Available

Introduction and Proposed Agenda

The rise of industrialized products, commonly referred to as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), has increasingly shaped global food markets and supply chains. These foods are often formulated from refined ingredients and additives, produced through numerous processing stages, and then distributed via intricate global supply chains. Their swift expansion has significantly altered food landscapes and dietary habits worldwide.

While discussions around UPFs frequently center on their links to diet-related noncommunicable diseases, their production, composition, and distribution are intertwined with broader industrial food systems. These systems intersect with various public policy areas such as agriculture, food safety, environmental sustainability, and global trade. Consequently, UPFs affect not only dietary exposure but also agricultural practices, environmental impacts, and the management of foodborne hazards.

Analyzing ultra-processed foods through a One Health lens reveals how contemporary food systems generate interconnected risks affecting human, animal, and environmental health.

Health risks at the interface of humans, animals, and the environment—like zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), food safety issues, and environmental degradation—are increasing in scale, frequency, and intricacy. These challenges are inherently transboundary, multisectoral, and systemic. As such, they cannot be effectively tackled through isolated or sector-specific methods.

The One Health approach is recognized as an effective framework for addressing these interconnected issues, fostering collaborative action across the human, animal, and environmental health sectors.

Despite political support, the implementation of One Health varies widely. Institutional responsibilities and expertise related to human, animal, and environmental health are often fragmented across different sectors and organizations, with limited coordination mechanisms linking these entities.

In this context, exploring the rising influence of ultra-processed foods in modern food systems presents a valuable opportunity to examine how One Health perspectives can be integrated into food system governance.

Purpose of the Side Event

This side event aims to delve into the increasing prominence of ultra-processed foods in modern food systems, highlighting how these products converge with interconnected risks across human health, animal health, and environmental sustainability.

The session will include brief presentations from experts who will share emerging evidence on dietary exposure, environmental and production pathways, and chemical as well as material exposures associated with ultra-processed food systems. Utilizing a One Health perspective, we will explore how these interconnected pathways relate to broader governance challenges in food systems.

Based on the evidence presented, the discussion will consider the role of food authorities in governing ultra-processed foods through existing regulatory mechanisms, including oversight of foodborne hazards, regulation of additives and food-contact materials, traceability and recall systems, as well as labeling enforcement and compliance monitoring.

Framing ultra-processed foods within the One Health perspective encourages dialogue on policy coherence across nutrition, food safety, agriculture, and environmental sectors. It also examines the potential co-benefits of regulatory approaches that address multiple risks concurrently.

Preliminary Agenda (90 Minutes)

This side event will feature short expert presentations followed by a moderated panel discussion aimed at exploring how ultra-processed foods relate to One Health challenges and how food authorities can engage through existing regulatory frameworks.