Diet Drinks, Processed Foods Might Increase Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Key Takeaways

• Diet drinks and savory processed foods might increase type 2 diabetes risk

• These drinks and foods contain mixtures of food additives that are associated with higher diabetes risk

• However, it’s not clear why these additive blends might cause diabetes

WEDNESDAY, April 9, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Food additive mixtures commonly found in diet drinks, soups, dairy desserts and sauces may slightly increase a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study says.

A mixture of additives commonly found in artificially sweetened beverages increased risk of type 2 diabetes by 13% among a group of nearly 110,000 people, researchers reported in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Likewise, an additive mix associated with ultra-processed foods like stocks and sauces increased diabetes risk by 8%, results show.

“The findings suggest that several emblematic additives present in many products are often consumed together, and that certain mixtures are associated with a higher risk of this disease,” said lead researcher Marie Payen de la Garanderie, a doctoral student at INSERM, a health research organization in France.

“These substances may therefore represent a modifiable risk factor, paving the way for strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes,” she added in a news release.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 108,000 people participating in a long-term French study evaluating links between nutrition and health.

All participants completed two to 15 days of dietary records tracking all food and drink consumed, as well as specific brands. Participants' health was then followed for nearly eight years.

Researchers looked at five different additive mixtures commonly used in processed foods, to see whether they had any affect on diabetes risk.

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Two of the mixtures did increase risk significantly, results show:

• One mixture involved additives used in diet drinks, including acidifiers and acidity regulators (citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, malic acid), coloring agents (sulphite ammonia caramel, anthocyanins, paprika extract), sweeteners (acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose), emulsifiers (gum arabic, pectin, guar gum) and a coating agent (carnauba wax).

• The other mixture, used in processed foods, contained several emulsifiers (modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenans, polyphosphates, xanthan gum), a preservative (potassium sorbate) and a coloring agent (curcumin).

“To our knowledge, these findings provide the first insight into the food additives that are frequently ingested together,” researchers concluded.

However, researchers noted that more study is needed to understand why these specific additive blends would increase diabetes risk.

“This observational study alone is not sufficient to establish a causal link,” de la Garanderie said. “However, our findings are in line with recent (laboratory) experimental work suggesting possible cocktail effects” among various additives.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on type 2 diabetes.

SOURCE: INSERM, news release, April 8, 2025

What This Means For You

People should talk with their doctor about foods that can increase their risk of type 2 diabetes.