The Scourge -- Or Not -- Of "Ultraprocessed Foods"

Manhattan Contrarian ^ | 14 Jan, 2025 | Francis Menton

[MtnClimber]

“Ultraprocessed foods.” That sounds really bad. In fact, not just really bad, but really, really bad. Bad on a level with, maybe, “assault rifles” or “cis-heteronormativity.” Definitely, with a condemnatory name like that, “ultraprocessed foods” would be something that no sensible person would ever eat, or at least certainly not in large quantities.

The term “ultraprocessed foods” has been in usage for a while, but the frequency seems to have exploded everywhere in the past few months. Perhaps that has resulted from the naming of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has made a thing about proclaiming a health crisis in the U.S., which he asserts is substantially brought about by our “broken food system.” On November 15 — just after President-elect Trump tapped Kennedy to lead HHS in the new administration — The New York Times had a piece outlining Kennedy’s critiques of the “food system.” Number one on the list of Kennedy’s critiques identified by the NYT was “ultraprocessed food.”

After reading this, I thought it might be time for me to get on top of what this “ultraprocessed food” stuff might be. Is this something that you need to really be concerned about, or is it just another one of the usual scare tactics of the left to try to take more control of your life? The answer, as will not surprise you, is the latter.

Fortunately, I went into this investigation comfortable in the knowledge that this “ultraprocessed foods” thing had little or nothing to do with me. I only eat the healthiest of the healthy. For example, yesterday for dinner for Mrs. MC and myself, I went to the store and bought a fresh salmon filet, some new potatoes, and a head of broccoli — the freshest of possible “whole” foods. I sautéed the salmon in a pan, and for the potatoes and broccoli, I mixed them in a bowl with just some oil and salt and roasted them in the oven. Delicious! And also, the farthest thing possible from “ultraprocessed food.” Or so you might think.

And then, to begin my research, I followed a link in The New York Times piece cited above, and came to this April 21, 2023 article in Nature Communications, one of the many affiliate publications of the premier British science journal Nature. Or maybe I should put the word “science” there in scare quotes, because Nature has so thoroughly disgraced itself by falling for and propagating the climate scam, let alone who knows what other pseudoscience. But for whatever residual level of credibility they may have left, I was still surprised to learn that the article claimed that some 73% of the U.S. food supply is “ultraprocessed.” How is such a high level even possible? This seemingly very precise figure had supposedly been determined by a new “machine learning algorithm”:

Here we introduce a machine learning algorithm that accurately predicts the degree of processing for any food, indicating that over 73% of the US food supply is ultra-processed.

And how about this to scare you:

We show that the increased reliance of an individual’s diet on ultra-processed food correlates with higher risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, angina, elevated blood pressure and biological age, and reduces the bio-availability of vitamins.

Here is another piece from Harvard Health Publishing, June 17, 2024, with the title “Ultra-processed foods? Just say no.” The thesis, based on “new research,” is that consumption of “ultraprocessed foods” increases the risk of cognitive impairment and strokes:

[I]f you . . . eat some ultra-processed foods, is that bad for your brain health? A new study appears to deliver resounding yes: eating ultra-processed foods is linked to a greater risk of cognitive impairment and strokes.

Both of these pieces give examples of things that are said to fall in the “ultraprocessed” category — things like Twinkies and non-diet cola — but no precise or comprehensive definition. Surely nobody has a diet consisting of 73% Twinkies and non-diet cola, or of anything comparable. They must be sweeping lots of other things into the definition. But what? How are we supposed to avoid these things without a comprehensive definition?

At this point, before I might find myself prematurely in the grave, I decided it was time for some of my own research. For my first subject of inquiry I picked potato chips. “Ultraprocessed” or not? Remarkably, I find some debate in the literature about whether potato chips are “ultraprocessed” versus merely “processed.” But plenty of articles call them “ultraprocessed,” for example this piece from Canada’s Global News, October 12, 2023 (“From pop to potato chips, report finds ultra-processed food can be addictive. . . . Ultra-processed foods like sugary drinks, potato chips and ready meals can cause withdrawal symptoms similar to people trying to quit smoking. . . .”).

There was a reason I looked up potato chips first. On a bag of potato chips, the ingredients are listed as: potatoes, oil, salt. Those are the exact same ingredients as in the potato dish in my super-healthy meal last night. Could I really have been eating “ultraprocessed food”? I’m now starting to understand how 73% of an American diet can be “ultraprocessed.”

Let me try three more common items that have been promoted to me for decades as the quintessential super-healthy foods: whole grain breakfast cereal, Greek yogurt, and whole wheat bread. I find all three of those considered together in this July 6, 2022 piece from a source called Very Well Health. Surprise:

Whole grain breakfast cereal, Greek yogurt, and 100% whole wheat bread have more in common than being part of a “balanced breakfast”—they can all be classified as “ultra-processed” foods. . . . Some estimates have found that up to 73% of the American food supply is ultra-processed foods. However, experts don’t agree on what to do about ultra-processed foods—or even how to classify them.

So, if whole grain breakfast cereal, Greek yogurt, and whole wheat bread are “ultraprocessed foods,” are they part of the cause of “higher risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, angina, elevated blood pressure and biological age” that Nature attributes to “ultraprocessed foods”? Are they part of the cause of “greater risk of cognitive impairment and strokes” that Harvard Medical School attributes to “ultraprocessed foods.” If they are not, then how do we tell which of the “ultraprocessed foods” are the ones that must be avoided and which not?

The Very Well Health piece, in contrast to the pieces from far more “prestigious” sources like Nature and Harvard Medical School, is actually relatively informative on this subject. The piece provides some history, which I will spare you, of how the “ultraprocessed foods” characterization got started and developed. A fair summary is that it is a part of the overall UN effort to smear the West and the productive countries and companies of the world.

I’m certainly not recommending a diet consisting of nothing but Twinkies and non-diet cola. However, I’ve done plenty of research to conclude that the category of “ultraprocessed foods” is completely meaningless as a guide to trying to figure out how to eat a reasonably healthy diet. The pseudo-category of “ultraprocessed foods” includes plenty of things that are very healthy, plenty of things that are fine in moderation, and plenty of things to (mostly) avoid — and no assistance in distinguishing which ones are which. Institutions like Nature and Harvard Medical School that purport to reach epidemiological conclusions based on this pseudo-category only demonstrate their own incompetence.

As to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — if there is one Trump cabinet pick whom I would be happy to see not confirmed, he would be it.

[ducttape45]

Hey, Poptarts are off limits in this debate.

🤣🤣

[Pollard]

Red Dye No. 3, also known as erythrosine, is a synthetic food coloring derived from petroleum, used to give a bright red color to various food products.

Copied from wikipedia yesterday but if you go to the same page today, no mention of it being derived from petroleum. No wonder the author couldn't find a definition of ultra-processed when definitions keep changing.

I tell my son, everything has corn in it because there are so many corn extracts with various names. The chemists just love corn. (hey look, potato chips is on the list)

The question becomes, what is corn not in? Would a food be considered ultra-processed if it contains ingredients that are chemically extracted from GMO corn?

I try to shops the edges of the grocery store but some things are just convenient like frozen pizza. Just popped a Jimmy Dean's meat lovers breakfast burrito in the microwave. Hard to read the ingredients because they like to use non-contrasting colors these days, black on darkish red in this case but I do see "Contains bio-engineered ingredients" which is the new term for GMO. Likely corn for corn starch. Probably some dextrose. Could be some soy in there too. It has potatoes and they developed GMO potatoes in the mid 90s.

[Valpal1]

Have you read the ingredients list on the whole wheat bread? It’s got numerous additives to increase it shelf life while staying soft.

Real bread is flour, water, oil, salt and yeast. Anything more than that is “ultra”.

[beaversmom]

Things I’ve learned recently, other than I can basically eat nothing:

Can’t eat soup as the can might be lined with BPA...whatever that is.

Bill Gates is smearing something on our fruits and veggies to make them look good for longer than they should be.

McDonald’s is accused of using humans in their hamburgers. I remember in the seventies it was worms. McDonald’s is also accused of having bugs and hairs in their fries.

Don’t eat anything fried in a seed oil because it produces some toxicity...some word that starts with an a.

Don’t use aluminum foil for your food as that does something to you.

Don’t drink bottled water cuz you’ll be filled up with a credit card full of micro and nano plastic each week.

Don’t drink Starbucks hot coffee out of their cups because you’ll get the same as the bottled water.

Don’t eat oatmeal as that has some kind of pesticide on it.

Don’t have a certain kind of artificial sweetener is that we’ll do something to your gut.

Don’t eat cheap eggs as they’ve been fed a cheap diet and you will basically get no nutritional value out of them.

Don’t drink tea in tea bags because a lot of them are lined with plastic and when it’s heated up you get billions of nanoplastics in your tea.

I think that’s most of it that I’ve heard recently and combined with all the stuff that I’ve heard over the years about just about every food, I now know that whatever I eat is going to be bad for me.

[beaversmom]

Oh, I forgot one...some food had yoga mat material in it.

[MtnClimber]

The only safe thing is to stop eating completely.

[The Great RJ]

Interesting that even back in my great grandmothers day when the food was supposedly not ultra processed, the diet by our standards was not that healthy. White bread was a staple. I actually have my great grandmothers bread recipe and in addition to white flour is has white sugar and lard as ingredients. Lard was the cooking fat of choice. While families maintained large gardens, the vegetables were mostly home canned with a significant amount of salt. Meat was also home canned with large amounts of salt. Fruits were also mostly home canned with lots of sugar. Eggs, however, were fresh from free ranging chickens and chicken was often prepared fresh. My wife has memories of her great grandmother grabbing a chicken from the yard, wringing its neck, plucking and dressing the bird and cooking it fresh.

In comparison I cook with olive oil, use whole grains and lentils and limit salt and refined sugar. I eat far more chicken and fish than red meat and use fresh or frozen vegetables. Yes, I sometimes indulge on a cheeseburger or Twinkie, enjoy wine, drink an occasional whiskey and smoke a few cigars during the summer. However, in many ways I’m eating healthier than my great grandparents.

[Mariner]

Everyone who is not retarded knows what to avoid.

But they usually don’t.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Warning flags for food should include the use of UHT (Ultra High Temperature, or “flash” heating), typically used to make “shelf-stable” dairy products, that last at least six months, unrefrigerated, before going bad.

Basically, pasteurization does not sterilize food. It just reduced its bacterial load. This is because bacterial fermentation imparts a LOT of flavor. Sterile milk tastes worse than skim milk. Like water and chalk powder.

The FDA no longer requires ionizing radiation treatment to be listed on food labels. So if you find shelf-stable packaged recipes that only have to be warmed, not cooked, they have likely been irradiated. The jury is still out on any possible long term health consequences.

However this still does not answer what ultra-processed means.

[bgill]

To the one or two, no, I’m not wasting my time changing the cut and paste caps.

From the label of Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts - ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN B1 (THIAMIN MONONITRATE], VITAMIN B2 (RIBOFLAVIN), FOLIC ACID), CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, SOYBEAN AND PALM OIL (WITH TBHQ FOR FRESHNESS), SUGAR, BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF WHEAT STARCH, SALT, DRIED STRAWBERRIES, DRIED PEARS, DRIED APPLES, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), CITRIC ACID, GELATIN, MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, CARAMEL COLOR, XANTHAN GUM, CORNSTARCH, TURMERIC EXTRACT COLOR, SOY LECITHIN, RED 40, YELLOW 6, BLUE 1, COLOR ADDED.

I welcome RFK. Why do American products contain dozens more ingredients than we make for other countries? Compare that to homemade that only needs a basic dough and jam that will be around a total of dozen ingredients. Cheap store bought jam vs homemade is a wash with mainly the same ingredients.

Was his yogurt cultured in a lab or naturally like mine with jalapeno stems?

[T. Rustin Noone]

What about Cheez Whiz?

[bgill]

Not to mention what moron would pay $4 for a bag when they can fry/bake the same weight in fresh potatoes for about 30 cents.

[DesertRhino]

RFK Jr leads the charge against the covid and vax scams.
Pfizer widely advertises and funds all the major media.
Major media and NYT attack RFK Jr.

Probably just a coincidence.

[bgill]

No one said anything about banning foods, just don’t put all the extra chemical additives in it and stop the lab grown meat and vegs. I don’t want to buy a watermelon only find out the kids can twist it like Gumby.

[nitzy]

I have a different opinion.

My sister has a green thumb and loves growing plants. She has hundreds of plants in her house. She will often comment..”That plant wasn’t happy there so I moved him.” or “This plant is very happy. Just look at him.”

What she refers to as “happy” is the plants growth, it’s outward appearance and it’s vitality.

By no measure are modern Americans “happy”. We are suffering from record levels of drug abuse and overdose. We are at near all time highs for suicides. 25% of women between 18 and 49 are on anti-depressants. Our birthrate is below the replacement level. Millions of young men are locked inside playing video games for hours a day doing nothing productive. 10% of Americans are not just obese but MORBIDLY obese.

Any gardener looking at us would not call us a “happy” people.

I am convinced that our food supply at least plays a part in this tragedy.

[MtnClimber]

I agree with RFK Jr on the COVID Vax and a few other things. I don’t agree with him on guns and his old position on climate change. I don’t trust that he has moved some to the right on climate change except to appease conservatives. If he gets through the confirmation I will base my opinion on what he actually does.

[bgill]

6% of US corn is non-GMO.

[gloryblaze]

... what moron would pay $4 for a bag when they can fry/bake the same weight in fresh potatoes for about 30 cents.

About 99% of the population.

[algore]

can we really consider this stuff food, or is it just crap to stuff your piehole with ?

[PeterPrinciple]

Any gardener looking at us would not call us a “happy” people.

I am convinced that our food supply at least plays a part in this tragedy.

---

I didn’t reference happiness. don’t necessarily disagree.

My point is quality and selection. We have so many choices. we expect quality to be 100% We expect to go to a restaurant and expect not get sick from poor food, that is not true in history. and if one bit of food is bad, we destroy a lot of good food.

My point is we have choices. We want quality and quantity, we have to live with a LOT of regulation.

bread turn green after a couple day, we don’t like that.

the most highly processed food in my observation is veg meat. but some think that is good.