Can ultraprocessed foods meet the same benchmarks for an addictive substance as tobacco and alcohol?

Extraordinary interview with Ashley N. Gearhardt, Ph.D. Professor of psychology, University of Michigan, (PhD Yale). Developer of the clinical research tool 'YFAS', Gearhardt and colleagues are shedding light on how ultraprocessed foods impact the brain in a similar way to tobacco and alcohol, for many people, they are consumed compulsively, they are highly reinforcing, impact the reward centres of the brain, shift mood, induce high cravings.
Dissertation: An Examination of the Validity of “Food Addiction”. While working on her doctorate in clinical psychology at Yale University, Dr. Gearhardt became interested in the possibility that certain foods may be capable of triggering an addictive process. To explore this further, she developed the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) to operationalize addictive eating behaviors, which has been linked with more frequent binge eating episodes, an increased prevalence of obesity and patterns of neural activation implicated in other addictive behaviors. - lsa.umich.edu/...
The YFAS has been cited over 1,000 times (2024).
▪ One of the world’s top 2% of scientists based on citation metrics (compiled by Elsevier and faculty from Stanford University) (2023) March 2024 - Total citation count = 14353, h-index = 56, i10-index = 134
▪ Faculty Recognition Award for remarkable contributions through research, teaching, and service at the University of Michigan (2023) ▪ Selected as a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (2023) Gearhardt, A.N., Corbin, W.R., & Brownell, K.D. (2009). Preliminary validation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Appetite, 52, 430-436.
This discussion traverses:
• scientific controversy about whether highly processed foods are truly capable of triggering an addictive response
• Relationship between ultraprocessed foods (UHPs) and food addiction
• Formalising a diagnostic criteria food addiction - no valid biomarker - behavioural indicators.
'Addiction epidemics often occur because a novel and potent addictive substance is created, but it's addictive potential is undetected or underestimated.'
LaFata, E.M. & Gearhardt, A.N.(2022). Ultra-processed Food Addiction: An Epidemic? Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
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Interviewed by JR Bruning of PSGR.org.nz.