I need a list of ULTRA processed food and processed food

[LaurieFairyCake]

Internet searching just throws up people arguing about it

Is the (agreeable) difference that processed food is completely recognisable raw ingredients turned into something

• like fruit turned into jam/yeast into marmite

And ULTRA processed food is occasional ingredients with a longer list of additives - stabilisers/gum/E numbers/ ?

Basically I want to be able to compile my own list of food to avoid - and find replacements for things I eat every day (crisps that aren't crisps like Quavers and Wotsits)

And is Ryvita a processed food - basically baked wheat ? But not ultra processed? - I eat them every day !

Well, the "Nova processed food groups" linked to upthread list "fresh or pasteurized fruit or vegetable juices (with no added sugar, sweeteners or flavours)" in "Group 1, Unprocessed or minimally processed foods" which implies healthy / good, when we know that most types of juice contain far too much sugar. Fresh juices / smoothies involve fairly minimal processing with a problematic result. So as I said, not sure how useful these categories really are.

But then there are articles like this one (Harvard Medical School) which have a different view: www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/no-need-to-avoid-healthy-omega-6-fats

No wonder people get confused.

You missed the post about bee farming then?
Annoying when people are so emphatic when they're actually uninformed.

The rule I liked was if you can't make it with ingredients you'd find in your own kitchen or if the ingredients aren't things that can be bought easily for a domestic kitchen then it's probably not something to be eating every day / may count as ultra processed.
But you're right OP the do and do nots of all this are very confusing
ie. damned if you, damned if you don't.

Harvard Medical School stands alone in being the top receiver of industry and pharma grants. I wouldn’t trust any “research” from them.

If you can't identify the ingredients it's a UPF.

I listened to the podcast with the twin doctors and it's changed how I view food completely. I have cut back on 90% of the foods we buy and save for the occasional pack of crisps/chocolates and fizzy drink in the house I've mostly cut it out of our diets. The children still choose UPFy things when we're out and about but I really home not having it at home will help.

I have also lost half a stone which is a winner. I started making my own bread in the stand mixer I never used, game changer if you have one. I buy the bread mix packs for about 70p from the supermarket and make a couple of loaves a week. I'll never go back. Also made my own mayonnaise which was bafflingly easy and tastes so much better!

But I agree completely it's SO confusing! I think that's the point. I also have a method of WNEI - Would Nana Eat It? My nana was terrified of 'new foods' and ate meat and potatoes at any meal. She made pastry from scratch into her 80's and I never saw her eat a bag of crisps.

WNEI? No? It's a UPF. However I would die before I gave up pasta so I don't think Nana had all the answers but we live and we learn.

Why do people keep mentioning pasta ???

It's got 2 Ingredients....

Organic durum whole wheat and semolina

It’s confusing if you see it as a diet you have to get “right”, but it isn’t. It’s about being aware of what you eat and making mindful choices. Whether something is processed or UPF isn’t massively important - do you feel it nourishes your body? Do you feel better after eating it? Does it satisfy you? Do you get bloated, extra hungry, tired after eating it? Does it taste good? Sometimes it might be a UPF that hits the spot, but if you start cutting them out they don’t even taste that great anyway.

There is no right. You’re not “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” because there’s no purity test to pass. The van Tullekens are not all-knowing gods and don’t claim to have all the answers. I’m grateful to them for making my examine my eating habits. I don’t feel like I was failing before though and I don’t feel like I’m succeeding now. Just eating nicer food, and that’s a win for me.

Pasta isn’t a UPF. Spaghetti hoops are!

Crisps, quavers etc are all ultra processed. I read don't eat anything direct from a packet that crackles.

No idea! Maybe the white flour having had all the fibrous stuff removed. But I think that’s quite nitpicky. Or maybe they are referring to the sauces it may come with. Either way there’s no definite rule, I think it’s something you draw your own line on.

And here's my favourite Ryvita (my favourite because it's the fruit crunch one which I love with cheese) - it's called currant, seed and oat

It even says on the side - no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives

I recognise every ingredient and there's nothing there I couldn't make myself if i could be fucked to make it

I’m guessing you read an article this morning too lol, as this was exactly what was searching for this morning

Ok. So what’s the problem?

I guess the problem is that there is disagreement about what is a UPF

It's not necessarily so simple.

Just to give one example, you'd be inclined to avoid E300 (or, in Australia 'food acid 300'), right? How about ascorbic acid? But if you were to eliminate Vitamin C from your diet you'd get sick from scurvy.

www.snopes.com/fact-check/chemicals-in-bananas/

Before you tie yourself up in knots over ingredients, make sure you understand what you're looking for.

Proper corn - which is just corn kernels and salt and sunflower oil is a great crisps alternative. I’ve just discovered them.

• and anthocynanins, which give blueberries their “superfood” status, are also known as E163.

It depends how they make the ryvita.
A UPF breakfast cereal might only have 4 or 5 ingredients, but if they're mashing up the rice or wheat, then drying it out, then reconstituting it into cereal then it's ultra processed. It's not just the ingredients but the industrial level processing. I'm not sure I could replicate ryvita at home, it likely goes through some sort of industrial processing to get consistency of flavour and texture across batches.

That's exactly how pasta is made - squashed wetted wheat reformed into tubes

I completely refuse to believe that heating and squashing a food makes it worse for you - or that a food with just the ingredients of wheat and semolina is bad for you

I just can't get my head around that

Heating and squashing food is basically cooking...

I think adding tons of salt to food is probably not great - but I love anchovies and capers which are basically preserved in salt...so...

It's just not that simple.

I think dried pasta is more processed than other dried grains just because its gone through more processes. I guess I'd lump ryvita in with that. Fresh pasta is less processed.

This is the second UPF thread I've seen in 24 hours!

Without sounding glib, and as pps have said, just look at the ingredients.