We are food scientists/nutritionists, and we understand the need for processed foods. From time to time, we even eat them.
Here’s why.
We know that the vilification of processed foods by health professionals, the media, and amateur Instagram nutritionists is an easy sport. We also know this is not the age of nuance, but there’s a significant scientific and nutritional difference between so-called “ultra-processed foods” and healthily processed foods.
The fact is, processed foods — healthy processed foods — feed much of the world.
That’s why we urge policymakers and health professionals to be careful in their language, research, and impact on our nation’s and the world’s food supply. Simply put, world hunger would be even greater if foods could not be processed.
It makes sense that the fear of “ultra-processed foods” is rampant. A Google search of ultra-processed foods results in millions of hits and the media regularly publish studies reporting negative health outcomes associated with eating such foods. Looking closer, it is not the processing but often the ingredients or formulation that result in unhealthy foods.
Processing involves grinding, mixing, cooking, drying or filtering that most likely would not contribute to an unhealthy diet. However, foods formulated to contain high amounts of added sugars, saturated fats, refined carbohydrates and salt do not fit in a healthy diet. Those are the kinds of “ultra-processed” foods we all should avoid.
There’s something called the NOVA Food Classification System. It was developed in 2009 by University of Sao Paolo Professor of Nutrition and Public Health Carlos Monteiro. It classifies foods “according to the nature, extent, and purposes of the industrial processes they undergo.” And it has four categories ranging from unprocessed or minimally processed foods to ultra-processed foods.
The first category includes unsalted nuts, partially cooked grains, yogurt without sugar, dried fruits, eggs, pasta, and fresh herbs. We eat those for sure. They’re hard to avoid.
Examples from the fourth category include soda, energy drinks, pastries and cakes, cereals, margarine and spreads, pre-prepared fish and meat, pre-prepared pizza, and frosted breakfast cereals. We stay away from those, and you should, too.
Close examination of such ultra-processed foods demonstrates that it is often the formulation rather than the processing that makes them unhealthy.
For example, yogurt is processed. Healthy, right? But it would only be considered ultra-processed when sugar is added. Pasta is also processed and by itself fits in a healthy diet. When pre-prepared pasta dishes add salt, fat, and other ingredients, they are ultra-processed. Plain cornflakes, which we consider healthy, are processed but not ultra-processed until frosted with sugar, colors and flavorings are added.
Processing is not an all-or-nothing thing. It can affect the healthfulness of a food or ingredient in both a positive and negative way.
Grinding peanuts to make peanut butter makes the fat more available for absorption, resulting in a somewhat higher caloric value. Ultrafiltration of milk can result in lactose-free milk being helpful for individuals with lactose intolerance. Various types of flours resulting from differences in milling and refining can result in foods with a high glycemic index and lead to high blood glucose levels. Pasteurized orange juice has less available vitamin C than freshly squeezed orange juice and orange juice, either fresh or processed, is less healthy than the whole fruit. And there are processes, such as deep frying, that fundamentally have a negative health impact.
We must judge the impact of processing on a case-by-case basis.
We should also not forget that processing is necessary for food safety, shelf life and palatability, which are positive attributes that feed the world.
So, let’s drop the term “ultra-processed foods.” Processing is important. And to call out the category of unhealthy foods perhaps the term “ultra-formulated foods” would be more accurate. That might seem like we’re splitting hairs, but it is mostly the sugar, refined carbohydrates, saturated fat, salt and specific food additives that are added to our daily foods to make them more appealing that have negative long-term consequences for our health. Those are the ultras and they’re bad.
Blanketly calling what the world eats “ultra-processed” leads to an unjustified fear of food processing and results in rejecting some healthy, processed foods while missing out on the main culprit: unhealthy formulations driven by consumer appeal, marketing and costs.
After all, processed food helps feed the world. And that’s essential.
Allen Levine is a professor emeritus and former vice president for Research and dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Job Ubbink is a professor and head of the University of Minnesota’s Food Science and Nutrition Department.
Added sugar, corn syrup or any artificial sweetener is terrible for you. These snacks and foods are processed to taste good and deliver empty calories. Just take a look at our youngsters, there are more fat under 25 year olds than I can ever remember. You are responsible for what you eat, get educated and eat healthy whenever possible.
Agreed, for example, not all ready-to-eat cereals are bad. Unsugared shredded wheat cannot be faulted in any way, and regular Cheerios can only be criticized minimally for containing just a little bit of sugar, salt and cornstarch. Both should be eaten with milk, for a complete protein breakfast. By the way, several years ago I learned that oatmeal is generally eaten without milk, a big surprise for someone who grew up in a Southern Minnesota town that had a farmers’ coop “creamery;” we always put milk on all breakfast cereals, whether they were cooked or ready-to-eat.
And aren’t some traditional food items highly processed, like bacon and corned beef (neither of them desirable, from a medical point of view).
Truth be told, the only diet that doesn’t contributed to being unhealthy is a whole food plant based diet. No oils, sugars, animal products. No white flour etc. Yep the only diet that has been proven to reverse heart disease and diabetes and many other things that ail us. But do people want to be told that, no they want a pill to fix everything. Also big ag, big pharma, big insurance, big government, big healthcare have everything rigged very few people eat this way. Fruits and Vegetables are truly miracle foods. Look at how sick we are? 90% of all ailments are caused by what we eat. This whole protein marketing movement is just going to make us sicker and sicker.
We have a lot of people talking about food who are not scientists. Thanks to two scientists for providing solid information. A useful experience is in a grocery store. Look at the shopper and see what is in their cart. It is quite instructive. You can do the same wherever people are eating and drinking out in public. I think you will see differences in how people look based on what they are consuming.
Yes, there is a great need to distinguish justifiable belief from opinion. This is where science comes in and we should be grateful for this, from two scientists. MinnPost needs more such articles.
World hunger isn’t caused by any lack of food. We produce enough to feed 10 billion people and could double that with way more sustainable methods. We do not need any such high levels of processing as we currently have to feed the world better, we need to change how resources are distributed. Capitalism means food is produced for profit, not to feed people, this is the problem. Capitalism also created a system where people are so time poor and tired they can’t take the time to eat properly from foods that take more time to prepare yourself at home.
In terms of health, it’s very simple, if it has ingredients listed that you don’t find in normal kitchens, don’t buy it.