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Everytime a discussion around UPF comes up, there is the question about the definition and people do often get lost in the detail. There are some very good defi
by NoPicklez 2y ago
Everytime a discussion around UPF comes up, there is the question about the definition and people do often get lost in the detail. There are some very good definitions and approaches to defining UPF's, like many have said the NOVA classification has a good definition and classification matrix.
However, nothing's perfect and these definitions are trying to generalise all possible foods and cannot replace having an understanding of nutrition that allows you to make some of your own decisions.
It's not so much if something is a UPF or not, but its to what degree is that particular food processed and is it so processed that it is considered a UPF.
I'd recommend reading the labels here https://world.openfoodfacts.org/nova https://world.openfoodfacts.org/nova
There is so much nuance in here, yes drinking lots of coke which is considered a UPF is bad for you and there's plenty of studies to show that. However like many things its the dose that makes the poison, which is also true of many foods considered processed or not.
Studies are showing that introducing things like dyes and other colours, colour stabilizers; flavours, flavour enhancers, non-sugar sweeteners; and processing aids such as carbonating, firming, bulking and anti-bulking, de-foaming, anti-caking and glazing agents, emulsifiers, sequestrants and humectants are introducing unhealthy outcomes
- pornel 2y agoIt's a shame it's just based on correlation with many additives/processes together, and individual contributing factors weren't singled out. The mechanically-separated pink sludge McNuggets may be ultra processed, but I'd like to know if I put a chicken in a blender myself, is it going to be "processed" too. Or maybe the problem is not processing, but just HFCS additives? As a whole the definition is too close to "natural" fallacy to me.
- NoPicklez 2y agoI don't think so, they're a set of principles to go off of as a way to classify. In the case of a fresh chicken with nothing done to it but blended, then it would be a minimally processed food. But if you take the blended chicken and add Water, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil), Enriched Flour (bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Bleached Wheat Flour, Yellow Corn Flour, Vegetable Starch (modified Corn, Wheat, Rice, Pea, Corn), Salt, Leavening (baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Calcium Lactate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Spices, Yeast Extract, Lemon Juice Solids, Dextrose, Natural Flavors. Then it is considered ultra-processed.