Is anyone trying to stay away from UPF (Ultra processed food)?

Hotwired said:
Nah the instore bakeries have very short ingredient lists (if that's what tickles your loaf)

e.g: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/groceries/bakery/from-our-in-store-bakery/c:1018834

Not all of it is baked in the store. The TTD loafs and pastries are frozen and rebaked or something. Small shops with obviously no bakery will have a freezer and a basic oven for a "bakery".

But a white bloomer is...

Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin),
Water
Salt
Yeast (fresh yeast, I've bought it once from them)
Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C?)

Also fortified is a legal requirement so people don't give themselves rickets or deformed babies whatever by eating bread from traditional white flour which processes out nutrients and needs further processes to add back in or even just add nutrients that the population is dodging in their diet.

Anyway, compare to a Hovis white loaf:

Wheat Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin),
Water
Yeast
Salt
Soya Flour
Preservative: E282
Emulsifiers: E472e, E471, E481
Rapeseed Oil
Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid.

One of those loaves hardens up in a couple of days. The other will stay soft for weeks. The extra ingredients enable buying your daily bread once a week.
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It is kind crazy and definitely seems entirely plausible with the quotes surrounding just how much UPF's make up of some diets in the UK 50% in some cases, even higher for children!

As others have said it's just become a race to the bottom for the sake of convenience and 'quick' flavour. Especially having children it becomes super tricky being out and about if you just want to chuck them some food it requires a bit of forward planning to avoid anything UPF related. For us as a family we make an effort of making the majority of evening meals from scratch, we're fortunate enough to have decent bakeries nearby so try and buy as much fresh bread as we we can and 'treat' wise we try and bake anything sweet like biscuits or brownies etc.

I do think UPF's will end up becoming a large health scandal/issue in the very near future as research becomes more publicised and into the mainstream. Nice to see that scientists backed or previously backed by large UPF manufacturers (pepsico, mars etc) have been trying to say they are beneficial - https://www.theguardian.com/science...ng-ultra-processed-foods-linked-to-food-firms

I don't really know where this leaves those already struggling to make ends meet, I think as long as the awareness is there to allow individuals to make an informed decision is the most helpful thing at this point in time.
 
OG said:
It is kind crazy and definitely seems entirely plausible with the quotes surrounding just how much UPF's make up of some diets in the UK 50% in some cases, even higher for children!

As others have said it's just become a race to the bottom for the sake of convenience and 'quick' flavour. Especially having children it becomes super tricky being out and about if you just want to chuck them some food it requires a bit of forward planning to avoid anything UPF related. For us as a family we make an effort of making the majority of evening meals from scratch, we're fortunate enough to have decent bakeries nearby so try and buy as much fresh bread as we we can and 'treat' wise we try and bake anything sweet like biscuits or brownies etc.

I do think UPF's will end up becoming a large health scandal/issue in the very near future as research becomes more publicised and into the mainstream. Nice to see that scientists backed or previously backed by large UPF manufacturers (pepsico, mars etc) have been trying to say they are beneficial - https://www.theguardian.com/science...ng-ultra-processed-foods-linked-to-food-firms

I don't really know where this leaves those already struggling to make ends meet, I think as long as the awareness is there to allow individuals to make an informed decision is the most helpful thing at this point in time.
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I think it's bad science to claim a result before evidence and then hope for evidence in the future.

The guardian link you provide there, it's hard to not have some sympathy with the people who have spoken in defence because what they are saying is the business practices are being slagged off by people too lazy or ignorant to provide evidence. Mumbling that an arbitrary amount of fettling to make a food product is "bad" and failing to substantiate it, what exactly is anyone supposed to do about that.

Reminds me, anyone recall the massive financial damage caused by the "pink slime" farce. Jamie Oliver etc. Cost billions, factories shut down and thousands of workers were fired because commercial customers cut their orders due to the public scare. Well the product lives on. It was allowed to be renamed (the official name was never pink slime) and it continues to pad out lower grades of ground beef products because it always could meet food standards.

If you toss out the dross what you're left with is a demand to make food more expensive.

Tell me I'm wrong. Wanting arbitrary processes gone which enable lower priced food = what?
 
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Hotwired said:
I think it's bad science to claim a result before evidence and then hope for evidence in the future.

The guardian link you provide there, it's hard to not have some sympathy with the people who have spoken in defence because what they are saying is the business practices are being slagged off by people too lazy or ignorant to provide evidence. Mumbling that an arbitrary amount of fettling to make a food product is "bad" and failing to substantiate it, what exactly is anyone supposed to do about that.

Reminds me, anyone recall the massive financial damage caused by the "pink slime" farce. Jamie Oliver etc. Cost billions, factories shut down and thousands of workers were fired because commercial customers cut their orders due to the public scare. Well the product lives on. It was allowed to be renamed (the official name was never pink slime) and it continues to pad out lower grades of ground beef products because it always could meet food standards.

If you toss out the dross what you're left with is a demand to make food more expensive.

Tell me I'm wrong. Wanting arbitrary processes gone which enable lower priced food = what?
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I guess this is maybe what I was alluding to that it's now moving on from from people thinking UPF's are bad to there being genuine large scale research (here and here as examples) that gives fairly irrefutable evidence that higher consumption of UPF's = negative health impacts.
 
pc-guy said:
One thing I am really worried about is all the alternative milk ie Soya/oat/almond etc. my boy is dairy allergy and he has no option, and supposedly these are full of chemicals and emulsifiers that is bad for you. I ain’t got a clue now.
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Put whole oats and water in a blender for a few minutes. You now have oat milk.
 
Plenty of studies have shown links to UPF and the obesity epidemic, with hyper paletable, incredibly calorie dense foods subverting the bodies natural ability to self regulate. That's enough to make me cut it out where possible, the fact that a lot of it just tastes like cheap crap and makes you feel crap after eating it (who actually feels good after eating UPF?) and that various ingredients are being linked to health issues just adds to my decision.

More natural food is just nicer, I'd rather put the effort in and make something with decent ingredients that tastes good and makes me feel good rather than shoveling in crap that's bad for me.

Not to say I'm that pious about it, I will eat it if it's the only stuff available, but in my day to day it's definitely something I avoid.

I also refute the price argument, most UPF is still fairly expensive and often a homemade meal is cheaper, it's just more effort.
 
godinman said:
I also refute the price argument, most UPF is still fairly expensive and often a homemade meal is cheaper, it's just more effort.
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You don't think it lowers the price?

I was looking at options the other day. The goal was chicken kievs. A ready made dish so by its very nature there is a premium on the price but that's not where it ends.

There were about 6 choices ranging from being based on frozen formed chicken paste to whole fresh chicken breasts.

Ready made food doesn't have to be made from the cheapest products but they sure sell a lot more than using premium product.
 
The only I really tended to eat was condiments and Quorn, Quorn is getting to bloody pricey anyway so just stick to mixed beans or something along those lines.
 
Hotwired said:
You don't think it lowers the price?

I was looking at options the other day. The goal was chicken kievs. A ready made dish so by its very nature there is a premium on the price but that's not where it ends.

There were about 6 choices ranging from being based on frozen formed chicken paste to whole fresh chicken breasts.

Ready made food doesn't have to be made from the cheapest products but they sure sell a lot more than using premium product.
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I guess I was more talking about proper junk UPF. It does depend on the type of food, you can get all sorts of premade food that contains the same ingredients you use at home, it's when it starts getting weird that it UPF.
 
pc-guy said:
Mechanically grinding grain isn’t ultra processing. I think UP is reference to chemicals processes.

Human digestive track is far too short to be able to effectively digest food if unprocessed.

Processed food is ok, we need it to take up the nutrients. I think processed food has had a real bad rep over the year as meaning something aweful.

And those “processed foods” are really ultra processed - such as burgers/sausages/ham/stuff in the tins etc

One thing I am really worried about is all the alternative milk ie Soya/oat/almond etc. my boy is dairy allergy and he has no option, and supposedly these are full of chemicals and emulsifiers that is bad for you. I ain’t got a clue now.
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Plenish almond milk has no additives or préservatives.

I followed a paleo diet at 90% for a few years. Taught me a lot about avoiding UPF, even in prepackaged foods.
 
godinman said:
I guess I was more talking about proper junk UPF. It does depend on the type of food, you can get all sorts of premade food that contains the same ingredients you use at home, it's when it starts getting weird that it UPF.
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I have a variety of emulsifiers and thickeners in my kitchen, so I use those demonised UPF ingredients at home. Oh noes!
 
What is considered ultra high process food these days?

Reformed Ham?
Sausage meat?

Oh no matter I just googled it, boring, good luck not eating it ... Not exactly difficult these days if you have 2 braincells.
 
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