4 ms·

(standard disclaimers apply; I am not a dietician or otherwise formally qualified to have any opinion at all on this topic) It looks like they're using the NOV

by Pete_D 7y ago

(standard disclaimers apply; I am not a dietician or otherwise formally qualified to have any opinion at all on this topic) It looks like they're using the NOVA classifications[0]; there have been a couple of other articles relating to the same system posted here recently, e.g. [1]. The NutriSource in "Whole milk (Cloverland) with NutriSource fiber" is apparently 100% partially hydrolyzed guar gum[2], which I believe would qualify the combination as ultraprocessed under this part of the definition from [0]: "Substances only found in ultra-processed products include some directly extracted from foods, such as casein, lactose, whey, and gluten, and some derived from further processing of food constituents, such as hydrogenated or interesterified oils, hydrolysed proteins, soy protein isolate, maltodextrin, invert sugar and high fructose corn syrup.". By contrast, skim milk (as used in the unprocessed menu) has nothing added, only removed, and so would fall under their Group 1 "unprocessed or minimally processed foods". As for whether this is actually a useful classification system, I don't know. I have no reason to believe any of the studies are bogus, but taken as a whole, it does seem like an attempt to launder the naturalistic fallacy into some scientific respectability. [0] http://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-7-1-3-28-38-Monteiro-Cannon-Levy-et-al-NOVA.pdf http://archive.wphna.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WN-2016-... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19930970 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19930970 [2] https://www.nestlehealthscience.us/brands/nutrisource/nutrisource-fiber https://www.nestlehealthscience.us/brands/nutrisource/nutris...

nearbuy 7y ago
Ah, that makes sense for the milk, and clears up how they're classifying ultraprocessed. Like you, I'm skeptical that this classification system is useful for determining healthiness. I can't see why you'd expect, for example, adding casein to a food to have similar health effects as adding soluble fiber or corn syrup or any other unrelated substance. I have a personal theory that to me seems like the simplest explanation for why junk food is fattening. It's not processing per se. It's simply that people will eat more calories when offered delicious, high-calorie foods. Put a bunch of bland highly processed tofu in front of me and I won't eat many calories. Give me some mostly unprocessed peanuts and raisins to munch on and I'll eat much more. Raw, unseasoned ingredients aren't optimized for taste and convenience, while processed foods often are. I'd also expect people eat more calories at a fine French restaurant (or any restaurant) for the same reason: they design their meals to be delicious. But no one is going to write an article saying delicious and convenient calorie-dense foods cause weight gain.

by Pete_D 7y ago

nearbuy 7y ago

Ah, that makes sense for the milk, and clears up how they're classifying ultraprocessed. Like you, I'm skeptical that this classification system is useful for determining healthiness. I can't see why you'd expect, for example, adding casein to a food to have similar health effects as adding soluble fiber or corn syrup or any other unrelated substance. I have a personal theory that to me seems like the simplest explanation for why junk food is fattening. It's not processing per se. It's simply that people will eat more calories when offered delicious, high-calorie foods. Put a bunch of bland highly processed tofu in front of me and I won't eat many calories. Give me some mostly unprocessed peanuts and raisins to munch on and I'll eat much more. Raw, unseasoned ingredients aren't optimized for taste and convenience, while processed foods often are. I'd also expect people eat more calories at a fine French restaurant (or any restaurant) for the same reason: they design their meals to be delicious. But no one is going to write an article saying delicious and convenient calorie-dense foods cause weight gain.