Exclusive: Food, Farming and Countryside Commission added up cost to NHS and economy of diet-linked disease

The UK’s growing addiction to unhealthy food costs £268bn a year, far outstripping the budget for the whole NHS, the first research into the subject has found.

The increased consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar or which have been highly processed is having a “devastating” impact on human health and Britain’s finances.

The market in ultra-processed foods is due to grow by 8.4% a year over the next decade, above the 6.5% annual rise in food sales overall, despite fears about the damage they cause to health.

Costly anti-obesity drugs such as Ozempic are “catastrophic for human health and disastrous for the nation’s finances”, as they require patients to be on them for life to prevent relapse.

The rise in diet-related illness in recent years reflects what Ara Darzi, in his recent investigation into the state of the NHS, called “a society in distress”.