Lots of clueless posts from people not understanding the difference between processed foods and UPF on this thread, which is fine. It’s a newish concept and there’s a lot to learn. But there is a tangible difference. It’s not just snobbery or nonsense.
Yes, all bread and cheese is processed food. That’s fine and not unhealthy.
Some bread and cheese is ultra-processed food. Bread baked fresh at Sainsburys bakery is simply processed. Sainsbury’s “sliced white bread” on the shelf, however, contains various emulsifiers and rapeseed oil, and is ultra-processed.
To answer the quoted question Babybel vs Gruyere. Actually neither are UPF. Gruyere has one ingredient - milk. Babybel actually has only a few ingredients - Cheese, salt, lactic ferments, rennet. Babybel is just edam. Any anti-babybel sentiment is just snobbery.
Frubes vs natural yog is probably a better example. Natural yoghurt is just a couple of ingredients - milk, and bacterial cultures. Frubes contain guar gum and “flavouring” - plus stabilisers, regulators and thickeners. It is an UPF.
The science is still emerging, but Ultra Processed Foods have been shown to have an adverse effect on gut health, as well as strong links to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression, obesity and low life expectancy.
The main ultra-processed ingredients you want to look out for are emulsifiers, flavourings and stabilisers, things like malted barley extract (in most cereals), hydrogenated oils and seed oils, and “natural flavourings”. Any extra ingredients that have been added to aid in industrial food processing, for ease of shaping, flavouring, etc, and for cheapness.
The OpenFoodFacts app is great for checking if something is a UPF.