Ultra-processed foods need tobacco-style warnings, says scientist
Ultra-processed foods need tobacco-style warnings, says scientist
UPFs should also be heavily taxed due to impact on health and mortality, says scientist who coined term
UPFs should also be heavily taxed due to impact on health and mortality, says scientist who coined term
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are displacing healthy diets “all over the world” despite growing evidence of the risks they pose and should be sold with tobacco-style warnings, according to the nutritional scientist who first coined the term.
Prof Carlos Monteiro of the University of São Paulo will highlight the increasing danger UPFs present to children and adults at the International Congress on Obesity this week.
“UPFs are increasing their share in and domination of global diets, despite the risk they represent to health in terms of increasing the risk of multiple chronic diseases,” Monteiro told the Guardian ahead of the conference in São Paulo.
From the study itself:
These (UPFs) products are characterised as industrial formulations primarily composed of chemically modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance, and durability, with minimal to no inclusion of whole foods.
What is a "whole food?"
I looked further into the paper they used to classify UPFs
A practical way to identify an ultra-processed product is to check to see if its list of ingredients contains at least one item characteristic of the NOVA ultra-processed food group, which is to say, either food substances never or rarely used in kitchens (such as high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or interesterified oils, and hydrolysed proteins), or classes of additives designed to make the final product palatable or more appealing (such as flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents).
So I guess a "whole food" is a food that doesn't contain High fructose corn syrup or additives. But if they are making this direct link between ultra-processed foods and increased mortality, then surely it's these specific substances that are responsible for it? So why aren't we banning high fructose corn syrup and these additives?
Surely it doesn't need to be more complicated than that?
"What happens when we eat these substances?"
"we tend to die more quickly then if we didn't eat them."
"so let's ban these substances."
"OK."
Human health and nutrition is, of course, highly complex. A substance may be generally healthy in one formulation/concentration, and tend to cause health problems in in another.
A "whole food" is not strictly defined, but is "Group 1" in the Nova food classification you mentioned.
But if they are making this direct link between ultra-processed foods and increased mortality, then surely it's these specific substances that are responsible for it?
Not necessarily. Think about it like cigarettes. The nicotine is what gets you addicted, but it is not what kills you. In a similar vein, these additives might cause you in some way or another to consume an unhealthy diet in the most general sense. So the effect can be more indirect.
I'm pretty sure high fructose corn syrup is banned here and when my wife from the US moved in with me she kept complaining how things don't taste as sweet until she got used to it.
The whole UFP thing is so wishy washy. It's such a broad category it is essentially meaningless, one of the earlier guardian articles talked about sliced bread being a UPF as it has added vitamins and minerals due to law.
If you closer at the whole topic it just comes across as saying if you are poor and eat food that you can afford you will die earlier. Writing a reminder of this on the food will not help anyone but it will make poor people feel a bit more like shit.
The point of these kinds of efforts is to shift the blame. “It’s easy to know which foods are good and bad with this handy system, so if someone is only eating bad foods, that’s their choice, and the rest of us can blame them for their poor health.”
We already have a traffic light system on foods and it is largely ignored, partly because few people have the time and energy but also because you have to look at your diet as a whole and not judge it by individual items. I also think these UPF studies have a bit of a conservative agenda.
Why do people eat more processed food? Because there isn't a homemaker spending hours a day preparing meals as a full time job. Proceesed and convenience foods are massively egalitarian and I think let more people join the workforce.
I'm sick of being told what I should and shouldn't be eating tbh.
Seen plenty of scares over the years about fats, saturated fats, eggs, sugars, carbs, glutens, red meat, meat... Now Ultra Processed Food.
At this point, it's just food. If you're too fat eat less of it. If it's actually dangerous don't sell it.
Because no one actually knows. Studies or trends are done by crusaders for or against a certain food because they noticed for themselves it has some neg impact.
There are not enough actual studies on food or even healthcare. There was like 1 decent study for example on keto diet for athletes. Results weren't valid for most people as they only looked at athletic results and how the athletes felt. Not the health impact for gen pop.
Healthcare is the same. I've lived my entire life following various medical advice due to medical issue. Recently that advice has changed. And I'm fkin pissed cuz after 40 fkin years I am finally pain free.
And I haven't even touched the topic of both food and healthcare for women, poc, differing body-/lifestyle types.
Only thing I can agree on: consume less sugar and sauces. Sure my opinion is anecdotal, but everyone I know that has cut those 2 has seen great results.
I’d like to see warnings on alcohol before this
Aren't there already? Surgeon General's Warning: Do not drive a pregnant woman under the influence blah blah blah
Will that achieve anything?
People know the effects, people see the effects, people don’t care.
Just seems like a silly outdated idea. Isn’t it well established that the best way to stop people from buying stuff like this is plain white packaging and advertising restrictions?
Do they?
I don't even know what an "ultra processed food" •IS•.
How is it different than the "processed cheese product" that passes for most individually wrapped "American cheese" cheese slices? Or is that ultra processed?
Are Doritos ultra processed or just the regular kind of processed?
Which kind of ground beef qualifies for "ultra"? Only the pink slime or anything that's been chemically treated?
I'm not being a pedantic contrary asshat, I legitimately do not know what qualifies something to be in this category and why it's worse than normal processing.
Bpa from plastic tubing used in the processing of Annie's organic leeched into the food. Is that considered contamination or a side effect of processing?
I don't even know what an "ultra processed food" •IS•.
Will that achieve anything?
Yes! Various countries implement a "traffic light" style health meter that is legally required to be on the front of packaging that also gives a little subtext to say what causes it to be yellow or red (least healthy). So it will say stuff like "excess sodium" or "too much sugar" which actually does work. People don't even realize that some staples are considered UPFs because of preservatives (Tortillas), or are otherwise unhealthy (too much sugar and preservatives in 'health' cereals and yogurts).
This allows people to find staples that do not contain shocking amounts of sugar, preservatives, or highly processed options within the same category. It's worked when implemented well :)
In the case of tortillas I imagine the label would do more harm than good. Because what are people going to do, stop buying tortillas? They'd just learn to disregard the label. The only way I could imagine it working is if some tortillas had the label and others were safe, then you could buy the safe ones.
On the other hand, why not just ban the dangerous preservatives and let them all be safe?
Unless we are saying that it's ok for poor people to eat dangerous food if they can't afford the good kind
I think it would help. Often times all the items on the shelf look the same with the exception of price.
You add a warning label on one item and the item next to it is $2 more and doesn’t have the warning, I am likely to buy the more expensive item.
Will that achieve anything?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But if we're putting warnings on things and trying to influence behaviour around tobacco and alcohol consumption (don't get me started on drugs) then we might as well do it with foods that can cause serious health problems and are arguably addictive.
I think the best way would be to prevent it from being sold in the first place.
That's still just a superficial solution, you need to go deeper and address the reasons these foods exist in the first place, and why people buy them, because it really isn't the ultra processed foods in themselves that are the issue, it's that the system is geared not only to encourage producing food as cheaply as possible, but also for people to work for such long hours to barely survive, and be so badly educated about food and nutrition, that fast food, and filling the pockets of those who sell it, is their best option (in terms of time, money, and other physical and mental resources that go in to consistently and reliably preparing food from scratch).
So much of the damage being attributed to these "ultra processed foods" is almost certainly actually due to stress and poverty, which are what (alongside a multi-trillion dollar marketing and advertising industries) lead people to eat them in the first place.
so, dumb question :
what's the risk of these foods for people who are not obese?
Becoming fat/obese
From my understanding: we extract many micronutrients from food by having bacteria in our digestive tract pre-process the food.
When you eat primarily eat junk food for a long time, the bacteria die of starvation. Once this happens it's hard to get them back and you are crippled by not being able to fully digest healthy food to its full potential.
TL;DR humans need to consume more than just calories and protein
Unfortunately, the "Processed Food Moral Panic" has been taken over by the meat and dairy industries, so people will not be learning why it's important to eat lots of plants as whole foods.
so judging by that a truly mixed diet with some degree of shitfood should be fine
Cancer is a big risk
Had a friend of mine die on Thanksgiving last year in his early 30s from it. He was never obese in his life.
It's a waste of time, the "NOVA" system is subjective and it makes testing it a dead end. Your question will not be answered.
It also doesn't teach nutrition to the people; the core application of it is demonizing food that isn't cooked at home, as if something made in a small home kitchen is magically healthful.
If you want to get a better grasp, here's a nice and short read: (shorter than a book) Series 5: Is the Ultra-processed Food (UPF) concept useful, and for what goals? | TABLE Debates
Won’t happen. Governments want lifespans shortened.
anyone who eats this shit does not care about their health
What a garbage take on this. You're completely ignoring mental health, poverty, food deserts, etc.
99% of worlds population