How Ultra-Processed Foods Are Taking Over Your Shopping Cart

Original English text: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/13/how-ultra-processed-food-took-over-your-shopping-basket-brazil-carlos-monteiro

Audio in English: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2023/may/17/from-the-archive-how-ultra-processed-food-took-over-your-shopping-basket-podcast

Chinese summary:

When people find they can't help themselves to eating lots of bread, cake, or other high-sugar foods, it doesn't mean they have weak self-control. The ultra-processed foods they eat are designed to make people addicted. Ultra-processed foods are generally defined as low in nutrients, high in sugar, salt, fat, and addictive.

Ultra-processed foods are now all over the world. In a train station coffee shop, author Bee Wilson discovered that the only non-ultra-processed foods offered were bananas and a bag of nuts. According to statistics, more than half of the total calorie intake of British and American citizens comes from ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods are often made from highly refined ingredients such as vegetable oils, flour, whey protein, and sugar. No matter where you go, you can always find them on the supermarket shelves. Ultra-processed food has never been a higher part of the human diet than it is today. They can be your on-the-go snack, your quick breakfast or your late-night snack. People blame themselves for overeating, but there is evidence that it is the very nature of ultra-processed foods that contributes to overeating.

In 2014, the Brazilian government adopted a radical policy to completely reject ultra-processed food. According to statistics, the number of overweight people in Brazil soared from 7.5% of the population to 17.5% between 2002 and 2013. Extensive research has shown that the high proportion of ultra-processed foods in people's daily diet is the main culprit. These foods can make eaters suffer from asthma, heart disease, and gastrointestinal diseases at a higher rate than other groups.

Monteiro, a nutrition researcher in Brazil, led his colleagues to conduct research on this issue. He divided all foods into four types according to the degree of processing, which he called the NOVA food classification system: first The first category is unprocessed or minimally processed foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, meat or other crude foods. The second category is natural additives (processed culinary ingredients), such as cream and starch, which are added to condition the first group of unprocessed foods. The third category is processed foods, such as pickled, fermented, or otherwise preserved foods that have an extended shelf life. The rest that are overprocessed are called ultra-processed foods.

Kevin Hall is a nutritionist in Bethesda, Maryland, who studies why people get fat. He believes that the dangers of ultra-processed food are rumors. Monteiro’s research only found that the intake of ultra-processed food may be associated with a higher probability of patients suffering from various diseases. It does not mean that ultra-processed food is the source of disease. He is determined to eliminate This misunderstanding. He and his colleagues conducted an experiment to see whether eating ultra-processed foods could lead to overeating and weight gain. The experiment was launched in 2018. 10 adult males and females were selected as experimental subjects. They will stay in the laboratory for 4 weeks. The food is strictly controlled by the experimental team. eat unprocessed foods for a week, and they can eat as much as they want. The results of the experiment showed that in the first two weeks, the subjects gained an average of 1KG in weight.

Home cooking is a forgotten concept in the UK, but in Brazil, home cooking is practiced by rich and poor alike. In developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, people have been associated with ultra-processed foods for generations. If you want to strike up a conversation with a Brit who was born in the 70s, all you have to do is share your fond memories of a popular snack brand to start the conversation.

Sharing your favorite industrially processed foods with others is a way to show others that you are easy going.

Monteiro and his colleagues wrote a guide earlier this year to help identify ultra-processed foods. When reading food labels, if you come across one of the following ingredients that are clearly not part of your home kitchen, such as invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, lactose, water soluble or insoluble soluble or insoluble fiber, hydrogenated oil or interesterified oil. There are also additives such as flavor enhancers, colors, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, antifoaming agents -foaming), bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling, and glazing agents, it can be judged that the product belongs to ultra-processed food.

Open Food Facts , a website run by French volunteers, collects processed foods from all over the world and categorizes them according to the NOVA food classification system. Anthony Warner, a former food processing industry chef, protested online that NOVA made people feel fearful and guilty about eating. He believes it makes many people's lives more anxious.

It's not clear why ultra-processed foods make people gain weight, but Monteiro found that ultra-processed foods, which are softer and more flavorful than other foods, make people eat faster. At the same time, a hormone called PYY that exists in unprocessed food can make people feel full longer. They are planning another study to explore the effects of ultra-processed foods on human health. As awareness of food safety in general increases, the industry is also keeping pace with the times, developing new processed foods based on new dietary concepts. Once you consider that the problem with ultra-processed foods is rooted in food processing, these little tricks of the food industry are just trying to cover it up. The nutrients that ultra-processed foods lack cannot be made up with more refined processing and packaging.

English Summary:

People who found themselves binge eating bread, cake or other high-sugar food were not weak in self-control. It is the ultraprocessed food that is designed to make people hard to stop eating. Ultra-processed food is usually defined as food that is low in essential nutrients, high in sugar, salt and fat; last and not least, hard to resist.

Ultra-processed food can be found anywhere nowadays. In a coffee shop at a train station, Wilson was surprised to find that the only food that was not ultra-processed was a banana and a packet of nuts. More than half of the calories consumed in the US and UK come from ultra-processed food. They were made from highly refined ingredients, like cheap vegetable oil, flour, whey protein and sugar. No matter where you go, you can always find them on the shelves of a local supermarket The percentage of ultra-processed food in people's daily diet has never been as high as it is today. It can be any snacks you consumed during your freetime, your quick breakfast or your midnight indulgent food. People often blame themselves for over eating, but Evidence suggests that it is in the nature of these kinds of food to be overeaten.

In 2014, the Brazilian government took a radical step of urging its citizens to avoid ultra-processed food completely. The number of overweight people in Brazil more than double from 7.5% of the population to 17.5% over the period of 2002 to 2013 . A large -scale research proved that a high degree of UPF in our diet lead to higher rate of athma, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorder.

Monteiro has transformed the public field of nutrition by classifying all food into four kinds by the degree to which they are processed: he called it the nova system. The first category is the least processed, including fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and any other food That is roughly processed. The Second Group is Called Process Culinary Ingredients, Like Butter, Flower and Foods that are too, He meal more delipous. The category three is Called Processed Food. It Contains Foods that Are P when pickled, salted.

Kevin Hall, a nutritionist who studied how people gain weight at Bethesda, Maryland, resolved to clear up the misconception that ultra-processed food is the cause of diseases. As the saying goes, "correlation is not causation." The fact that people who tend to eat more UPF and are prone to obesity and cancers, does not mean these factors are directly correlated. He and his colleagues did an experiment about UPF on whether concumtion of it caused overeating and weight gain. A carefully controlled trial was conduct ed in 2018 , in which ten men and ten women were given a certain amount of food in a laboratory for consecutive four weeks. Participants ate ultra-processed food for the first two weeks, and unprocessed food for the rest of the experiment. They are told to eat as much or as little as they like. The result turned out that the participants gained an average of 1kg over just two weeks.

The notion of homecooking has been a long forgotten idea in the UK, while in Brazil, people still cook their everyday meal at home regardless of economic conditions. The relationship with ultraprocessed food in the UK and US has been extensive for generations. To bond with others born in the 70s in the UK, just mention your memorable time of enjoying snacks of some popular brands from that period.

A taste for industrialized processed food is a way to insure others that you are OK.

Monteiro and his colleagues worked on a paper that will help people identity ultra-processed foods eariler this year. Tell-tale ingredients are invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, lactose, soluble or insoluble fiber, hydrogenated or interestified oil. Additives like flavor enhancers, colors, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling, glazing agents are also in the list.

A website called Open Food Facts maintained by French volunteers, has collected the data of packaged foods around the world and fitted them into the Nova system. Anthony Warner, a former food industry development chef, protested against Nova for stoking fear and guilt about food . He thought that it adds to the stress of already difficult lives.

The reason for ultra-processed food making us gain weight is still unknown, but Monteiro discovered that people on the ultra-processed diet tend to eat faster, maybe because the foods are softer and more appetizing. A hormone called PYY, prevalent in the unprocessed ed diet, was found to be keeping us fuller for longer. Another research was under preparation for probing into the effect of ultra-processed foods on people's physical health. Industrial world reformulated the processed food aligning with the theory of the day. But once you accept that processing is itself part of the problem, all of this tweaking becomes meaningless window-dressing. The lack of nutrition in ultra-processed food cannot be fulfilled by more sophisticated processing.