Are processed foods bad for me?

Have you ever heard of the word ultrasonic? It refers to sound beyond the 20,000 Hz frequency, the upper limit of human hearing.

What about ultraviolet? That’s light beyond the highest frequencies of visible light.

Whatever the ‘ultra’ is, it refers to something beyond the norm. It infers excess – it hints at the extreme.

So when we hear some people talking about ‘ultra-processed’ foods, what are they talking about exactly? How can food be excessive or extreme? And what does food processing have to do with it?

In our previous article on food processing, we asked what makes good food – that’s food that is safe, supports your lifestyle, fits in with your diet, and is of course tasty! But it begs the question… is there such a thing as bad food?

Nutrition and food processing

It goes without saying that no single food is bad for you.

But we all know that some foods are high in calories, fat, salt, or sugar, or low in dietary fibres,?and vitamins and minerals. Eating too much of these foods, and not enough of others, is not good for our health, and should be reduced.

Foods such as these have typically undergone some form of processing, rarely are they the raw food ingredient itself. As such, activists highlight these foods as evidence that ipso facto all processed foods must be unhealthy and that the more processed a food is and the more ingredients it has, the worse it is for you.

This premise is false.

The level of processing has no bearing on whether a food is good for you or not.

It is the final nutritional composition that matters.

And it is the final nutritional profile that you can use to determine whether a food is very nutritious or not as nutritious based on how frequently you intend to consume it. The mere fact it was processed is irrelevant.

Bread is processed food. Hummus is processed food. Infant formula is processed food. All of these go through multiple stages of processing and may include multiple ingredients, like flour, oils, yeast, or whey.

Balance is key

In fact, it is innovations in food processing and formulation that provide consumers with products like these and enables us to lead a healthy, sustainable, and balanced diet fit for our own lifestyles.

In the end it is all about balance.

But some people are promoting a new concept that threatens to unbalance our food system entirely – the notion of ultra-processed foods.

Some people believe that they can identify a food that has undergone an ‘excessive’ amount of processing and which includes a high number of ingredients, which they erroneously link to unhealthier and unsustainable foods. These people have proposed a number of schemes for doing so, the most known of which are NOVA and SIGA schemes.

On this basis they hope that these classification schemes could lead to new regulations with the view to stigmatising consumption of these foods.

Ultra-processed problems

But unfortunately, those pushing this ultra-processed food label are promoting a flawed concept.

1) There is no legal definition of ultra-processed foods in the EU or anywhere else in the world

How can we classify something for which no scientific consensus or legal definition exists?

2) More processing does not mean unhealthier or less sustainable food

As noted, the level of processing does not determine whether a food is healthy or not, nor does it determine whether it has been sustainably produced or not.

On the contrary, it is the food processing innovations that we use today that enable more sustainable diets and which can provide a plethora of nutritious and healthy options to fit people’s diets, whether they have allergies, intolerances, are vegetarian, or flexitarian.

3) The term ultra-processed food is confusing

Given that there is no legal definition of ultra-processed foods or scientific agreement on an ultra-processed foods classification, studies have shown that neither food nutrition experts nor consumers can agree on what an ultra-processed food is.

Classifying ultra-processed foods therefore, would be cementing confusion for consumers.

4) Classifying ultra-processed foods would open the Pandora’s Box of unintended consequences

a. Healthier foods would be caught up in an ultra-processed foods classification: Within the food categories classified as ultra-processed foods by these schemes, we can find many products like wholemeal bread, low-fat fruit yoghurt, vegetable soup, and pasta sauces – all which are essential products of a healthy, balanced diet.

b. Public health targets would be threatened: stigmatising ultra-processed foods could lead to consumers avoiding food that have healthy nutrient profiles.

c. Puts our food heritage on the chopping block: many of our traditional food and drink products here in Europe would fall under these classification schemes and could be erroneously stigmatised as a result, from charcuterie to baked goods.

d. Obstructing the transition to more sustainable food systems: ultra-processed foods classifications could lead to consumers avoiding the ever-increasing range of foods that are contributing to sustainable diets like plant-based products.

e. Limits consumer choice: Today, consumers should be able to follow the diets that suit their lifestyles. And processed food products enable that. Many of the products that form the basis of our modern diets, whether we’re vegan, vegetarian, meat-eaters would be caught up in ultra-processed foods classifications and could be further stigmatised as a result.

The search for better solutions

Proponents of ultra-processed food classifications systems are well-intentioned.

After all, we can all agree with the need to help consumers adopt better balanced diets and avoid overconsumption of products high in fat, salt and sugar or underconsumption of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Ultra-processed food classifications are just the wrong tools to do it.

So what can we do?

• Help consumers better understand the nutritional composition of a product and how to take that into account with frequency of consumption, portion size, and lifestyle.
• Support innovations, such as reformulation and fortification, to provide products like fibre-rich cereal and low- and no-sugar drinks
• Provide consumers with information to choose a healthy diet through labelling, awareness campaigns, and education for all ages
• Make it easier to choose healthy and sustainable diets, not harder
• Ensure advertising and marketing is decent and truthful, encouraging programs such as the EU Pledge and national initiatives.
• Promote a healthy lifestyle, including physical exercise, alongside a healthy and balanced diet.

Doubling down on actions such as these will help consumers lead healthier lives and eat more nutritious food.

And the EU food and drink industry is playing its part too, find out more here.?