The landscape of addictions is changing.

Historically, whenever the topic of addiction or substance abuse was being discussed, the thought of drugs and alcohol addiction immediately came to mind. This viewpoint has since changed over time for a few reasons.

First, behavioral (or process) addictions have emerged and have been recognized by the American Psychological Association. For example, gambling was the first non-substance behavioral addiction to be recognized in the DSM-5 in the year 2013. Prior to this point, gambling problems were known as “pathological gambling” and not yet classified as an addictive disorder.

As research has grown and progressed, we have identified that other compulsive behaviors, that do not include drugs and alcohol, can meet the criteria in place by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)—producing substance use disorder. Within this category, researchers have found addictive-like properties with the use of caffeine or the foods we commonly provide to our children—ultra-processed foods. Unlike drugs and alcohol, ultra-processed foods have no restrictions or laws in place to prevent or limit their consumption. Despite the lack of restrictions and rules in place, the addictive properties of ultra-processed foods can result in detrimental health impacts long term—just like smoking tobacco can.

Food is ubiquitous and necessary for survival; however, the emergence and proliferation of ultra-processed foods have led to an increase in compulsory eating behaviors. The prevalence of dependence on processed foods is roughly 20% according to a meta-analysis that utilized the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS).1 This statistic is low compared to the prevalence of addiction in users of controlled substances like heroin (86%) or methamphetamine (68%). Unlike controlled substances, which have fewer users overall, almost all Americans consume ultra-processed foods and have easy access to them. With this, there is the potential that 65 million people may struggle with overconsumption of processed foods.

To clarify and understand the impact of substance use disorders, a comprehensive report was conducted to compare the substance use disorder profiles of various substances. These substances ranged in their prevalence of use and whether or not they were scheduled or illicit. When we look across multiple studies2-6 of these........

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