(P22-011-25) Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Cholelithiasis: A Prospective Study of 122,431 Adults

Objectives: We aimed to prospectively investigate the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and the risk of incident cholelithiasis in the UK Biobank study.

Methods: Included were 122,431 participants who completed at least two 24-hour dietary recall assessments, with no history of cholelithiasis at the last diet assessment (the baseline of current analysis). UPF consumption was defined according to the Nova classification and categorized into quintiles. Incident cholelithiasis cases were identified through linkages with hospital admissions, death registers, and self-reported data. Information on vital status, date of death, and cause of death was obtained from the UK National Health Service (NHS) and the NHS Central Register. The multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: During a median follow-up of 10.5 years, 2,883 participants developed cholelithiasis. In the multivariable models adjusted for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors, total energy intake, diet quality, and health conditions, the HR for incident cholelithiasis was 1.24 (95% CI: 1.09–1.42) when comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of UPF consumption (P -trend = 0.001).

Conclusions: In this large prospective cohort study, higher UPF consumption was associated with higher risk of developing cholelithiasis.

Funding Sources: This work is supported by grants from the Startup grant at Fudan University (JIF201015Y, JIF201017Y, and JIF201018Y).