What the hell have they done to servos, supermarkets, and fast food?

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed how the fridges in just about every petrol service station, supermarket shelves, and fast food counters are packed with “food” products that are in actual fact primarily sugar or sugar-variant based, high in ultra-processed formulations (UPFs), and loaded with saturated fats? I saw this pattern first-hand on a recent road trip from Fremantle to Tasmania and back. The trip covered approx 10,000 km and honestly - every servo, supermarket, or fast food spot I stopped at looked exactly the same - fridges overflowing with sugary drinks, energy drinks, iced coffees, chocolate bars, and snacks; shelves stacked with cereals, biscuits, and desserts full of hidden sugars; counters offering burgers, nuggets, fries, and shakes engineered to keep you coming back.

This is not isolated. It is widespread at just about every outlet across Australia (one of the highest UPF-consuming countries globally, with nearly half of calories from UPFs according to The Lancet 2025 series). Servo fridges, supermarket aisles, and fast food menus are rigged the same way everywhere – designed for craveability, impulse buys, and profit, not nourishment.

Think about cigarettes for a moment. They are now mostly hidden behind counters or out of sight in Australia, thanks to plain packaging laws and display bans that aim to protect public health. Yet sugar and UPFs are treated much the same but worse – deceptively mislabelled with creative marketing text (“natural”, “low fat”, “whole grain”) to trick consumers into thinking they are healthier than they really are.

The health consequences are serious:

• Each 10 percent increase in UPF intake links to 12–17 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes and up to 50 percent higher cardiovascular disease mortality in heavy consumers.

• Connections exist to obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, inflammation, certain cancers, gut disruption, and mental health challenges.

Recent 2025 research also identifies UPFs as a potential exacerbating factor in neurodivergence (ADHD, autism spectrum):

• A Frontiers in Nutrition scoping review connects UPFs to disrupted lipid metabolism and increased risks of ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression.

• A Frontiers in Public Health review warns that prenatal and adolescent UPF exposure may rewire developing brains, raising vulnerability to ADHD, depression, and cognitive deficits.

• Nutritional epigenetics studies link excessive maternal UPF intake to heavy metal exposures and intergenerational risks for ADHD and autism.

Rising neurodivergence diagnoses arise from many causes (better awareness, genetics, environment), but UPFs may heighten vulnerabilities through inflammation, gut-brain disruption, or reward system overload.

Policy action remains slow. The Lancet 2025 series calls for global restrictions on UPF production, marketing (especially to children), and supply chains. In Australia, experts demand mandatory front-of-pack warnings, child advertising bans, and Health Star Ratings reform amid persistently high consumption levels.

ultraprocessedtruth.com was built to counter this reality and work at any outlet worldwide:

• Scan products to reveal NOVA classification (Group 1 whole foods versus Group 4 ultra-processed).

• Uncover hidden additives (high-fructose corn syrup, emulsifiers, and more).

• Receive SpectraBinary truth assessment plus crowd-sourced global scans.

Independent and evidence-based, inspired by public science (NOVA system, Pollan’s “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”), we expose Big

Food tactics without any affiliations.

Beta launch is coming soon. Visit ultraprocessedtruth.com to sign up, donate, or start scanning at your local Perth servo, supermarket, or fast food outlet. From Western Australia to the rest of the world, let us reclaim real food and undo what they have done.

Know the truth. Flip the pyramid. It starts with noticing.

To learn more visit ultraprocessedtruth.com

The UPT website is independently developed, supported and funded by Troy the founder of ToneThread.com - crowd funding donations welcome

#UltraProcessedTruth #FlipThePyramid #PerthHealth #GlobalHealth #Neurodiversity

Citations

• The Lancet Series on Ultra-Processed Foods (2025): Global and Australian consumption (nearly half of diet), health links, policy recommendations.

• Frontiers in Nutrition (2025): “Neurobiological insights into the effects of ultra-processed food on lipid metabolism and associated mental health conditions” – scoping review on ADHD and autism.

• Frontiers in Public Health (2025): “The consequences of ultra-processed foods on brain development during prenatal, adolescent and adult stages” – early-life exposure risks.

• Nutritional epigenetics (2025): Maternal UPF intake and heavy metal exposures linked to autism and ADHD.

• The Guardian / University of Melbourne (November 2025): Australia’s high UPF rates.

• Cancer Council WA (2025): Policy brief on planning reforms for healthy eating and obesity prevention in WA.