Awful Ultra-Processed Foods: Why They’re Sooo Bad For You

>> Linked to our report: Which Bandwagon-Jumping Vegan/Veggie Burger Is Truly Terrible?

In a nutshell: half the calories we eat are linked to dying early. How to avoid these toxic foods.

For virtually all the two million years Homo Erectus and Sapiens have been wandering the earth we’ve been eating natural, unprocessed food. But then modern technology came along - and with it the science to seriously process our food. Foods made in labs and corporate kitchens - full of chemicals we don’t have any long-term idea about.

It’s now reached the crazy point where half the calories consumed by the average Brit or American come from ‘ultra-processed’ foods.

Ultra-processed sounds scary and bad - and they are both. But what exactly do we mean when we describe something as ‘ultra-processed’ and what are the key signs to look out for to avoid this modern-day poison? 

What Makes Something Ultra-processed?

At its simplest, processed food is any food that has been altered during the manufacturing process. There are loosely four categories:

1) Unprocessed: plant foods such as fruit and veg

2) Processed ingredients: including oils, flour and sugar

3) Processed: when unprocessed foods are cooked with processed ingredients, such as to make bread or canned vegetables

4) Ultra-processed: designed for longevity and often reliant on preservatives and additives to preserve shelf-life as well as to improve the flavour. Lots of ingredients

Some of the most common ultra-processed offenders include pastries, cakes and biscuits, crisps, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, sausages and reconstituted meat products, and packaged pre-prepared meals. 

Here’s a handy chart from Harvard Medical School showing the processes at play. 

Why Are They Soooo Bad For You? 

It’s not possible to explain why, precisely, ultra-processed foods have come to be associated with early death. It’s likely that the sheer number of unhealthy ingredients are a contributing factor. Some of the worst offenders are sugar, salt and fat. Studies have found that on average, ultra-processed food has eight times more added sugars than mere processed food. 

Scientists have also made a connection between over-consumption of ultra-processed foods and inflammation of the gut, with one study recently suggesting that the sugar in ultra-processed foods may feed harmful bacteria in the gut. 

5 Ways To Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods

1. One of the major signs that food might be ultra-processed is the number of ingredients. Next time you pick up your favourite snack at the supermarket, make sure to check the back of the packet. If there are more than five ingredients it’s safe to assume that it might be ultra-processed.

2. Another thing to look out for on the packaging is unrecognisable ingredients which are, more often than not, additives. While they are usually safe, the effects of others are less known. 

3. While it’s important to look out for high sugar and fat content, other ingredients to look out for in ultra-processed foods are casein, lactose, whey, and gluten, as well as hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup.

4. Always be wary of ‘fresh’ food that has a long shelf life - check the label for preservatives such as sodium benzoate, nitrate and sulphite, BHA and BHT.

5. Marketing is a subtle indicator of whether food might be ultra-processed. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods often come with little to no packaging so it’s worth pausing to look at the overall presentation of the product. 

Or just get a loincloth and move into a cave, for old time’s sake.

>> Watch our video investigation: Which Bandwagon-Jumping Vegan/Veggie Burger Is Truly Terrible?