Ultra-processed foods are ready-to-eat/heat industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods, including flavors, colors, texturizers, and other additives, with little if any intact whole food.
(PS The “news” in USA is almost entirely propaganda and other capitalist trash. It’s no surprise when their “science” coverage is terrible. Most of the time it’s not even science.)
I wish every article that talks about “ultra-processed” foods would just link to the NOVA system or some other reference. Otherwise it just makes their statements seem so empty.
When asked to classify centuries-old staples like cheese or jam or bread or pickles, the experts struggle to find a consensus on which category any given food is. And so the classification system itself is so imprecisely defined that studies based on the system will rest on a shaky foundation.
It’s better to identify what specific foods and what specific cooking techniques are bad and how they might be bad, rather than trying to say that the act of chopping, blending, mixing, cooking, or fermentation automatically makes a food less healthy.
If certain additives are bad, say that those are bad. Don’t try to lump in the other processing techniques into one basket.
That probably captures many such things but it’s not fool proof. I like to make bread with 2-4 different kinds of flour, 4-8 different kinds of seeds, a teaspoon or two of sugar to get the yeast going, sometimes milk or olive oil or another fat source. At it’s most complex it could get pretty close to 20 ingredients but I don’t feel that should be classified as ultra-processed. The kinds of ingredients used and the actual process also matters.
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The article references another article referencing this paper that gives the following definition with reference to this paper:
It seems like the last referenced paper is the deep dive: Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them.
TL;DR: It’s based on the NOVA classification system.
(PS The “news” in USA is almost entirely propaganda and other capitalist trash. It’s no surprise when their “science” coverage is terrible. Most of the time it’s not even science.)
I wish every article that talks about “ultra-processed” foods would just link to the NOVA system or some other reference. Otherwise it just makes their statements seem so empty.
That’s bread or really any seed derived foods.
Yep, bread isn’t necessarily in the ultra-processed category but most of the common brands are.
Doesn’t mean you have to stop eating bread. Reading those NOVA guidelines and comparing the foods you eat will give you a lot to think about though.
https://youtu.be/NYi-7iaqmHk
The NOVA system is bad science, in my opinion.
When asked to classify centuries-old staples like cheese or jam or bread or pickles, the experts struggle to find a consensus on which category any given food is. And so the classification system itself is so imprecisely defined that studies based on the system will rest on a shaky foundation.
It’s better to identify what specific foods and what specific cooking techniques are bad and how they might be bad, rather than trying to say that the act of chopping, blending, mixing, cooking, or fermentation automatically makes a food less healthy.
If certain additives are bad, say that those are bad. Don’t try to lump in the other processing techniques into one basket.
Great link, thanks.
I’d go with the amount of additives compared to the “real” thing.
Like basic bread is water, yeast, flour and salt.
If your bread has 20 ingredients - it’s ultra processed.
That probably captures many such things but it’s not fool proof. I like to make bread with 2-4 different kinds of flour, 4-8 different kinds of seeds, a teaspoon or two of sugar to get the yeast going, sometimes milk or olive oil or another fat source. At it’s most complex it could get pretty close to 20 ingredients but I don’t feel that should be classified as ultra-processed. The kinds of ingredients used and the actual process also matters.
Yeah, bread can get complicated depending on what you want to make. Excluding flour, I have in my pantry to make bread these:
Salt is flavoring. Ultraprocessed.
Me putting ingredients into my food processor called Ultra. ULTRA PROCESSED!!