Food products abundantly found in our supermarkets, from sodas to breakfast cereals, have infiltrated our daily lives. These foods, known as "ultra-processed," are everywhere, but their consumption could have unexpected deleterious effects on our health.
Chips and other ultra-processed foods in a supermarket in the United States.
Image Wikimedia
The term "ultra-processed" refers to foods that undergo complex industrial transformations. The widely used NOVA classification system identifies four categories of food processing, according to Adrian Brown, a researcher at University College London. These categories include unprocessed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods, and finally, ultra-processed foods.
Unprocessed foods are raw products such as fresh vegetables, unsalted seeds, or eggs. Minimally processed foods are slightly altered to be consumable, without adding salt, sugar, or oil, such as frozen peas or roasted coffee beans.
Processed culinary ingredients, such as vegetable oils, are obtained through light processing of raw foods. Processed foods, like smoked meats or canned vegetables, contain several ingredients to increase their shelf life.
However, ultra-processed foods undergo intensive industrial transformations that profoundly modify them. They are composed of ingredients specific to industrial use, like dextrose or casein, and are often enriched with colorings, flavorings, and emulsifiers to enhance their taste and shelf life.
Excessive consumption of these foods can be dangerous to health, explains Dr. Jennifer Hankenson of Yale Medicine. They contain harmful additives that increase the risks of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, or cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, their high sugar and salt content makes them irresistible, complicating moderation of their consumption.
These products are low in fiber and digest quickly, disrupting gut flora. Furthermore, they do not trigger satiety signals as unprocessed foods do, leaving consumers with a persistent feeling of hunger.
A study conducted by Erikka Loftfield from the National Cancer Institute, involving more than 500,000 people, revealed a link between high consumption of ultra-processed foods and an increased risk of all-cause mortality. Ultra-processed meats and sodas are most associated with this risk.