Ultra-processed foods (UPFs), alcohol and smoking are killing two million people across Europe every year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Its leaders blamed “powerful industries” for driving ill health and premature death, with fossil fuels also being blamed for a further 700,000 deaths each year.
It said the four industries combined were killing “more than 7,400 people every day” in a new report published on Wednesday, contributing to 24 per cent of all deaths, and about half of all heart disease and cancer deaths.
It comes as the Labour party has pledged to take forward the Government’s flagship proposal to ban smoking, as well as banning junk food adverts targeted at children, and, as of Tuesday, energy drink sales to under 16s.
In the report, WHO leaders called for “strict regulation to curb industry power” and for governments to drive forward health policies which are regularly “challenged, delayed, weakened or stopped” by companies.
It said tobacco, alcohol, UPF and fuel industries are wholly or partly responsible for 2.7 million deaths per year in Europe, and 19 million across the globe.