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Why do we need these kinds of sensationalist names for things? Why is it so important that they be "ultra-processed" foods? Can't they just be "overprocessed"
by psunavy03 2y ago
Why do we need these kinds of sensationalist names for things? Why is it so important that they be "ultra-processed" foods? Can't they just be "overprocessed" or perhaps use some other more neutral term?
It's like the 90s when everything had to be "EXTREME!!"
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- snapcaster 2y agoI think it's partly due to the people (this site is full of them) that would read any other term and go "what is processing? Cooking and cutting is processing hurr durr"
- cynicalpeace 2y agoI have had this exact argument on HN at least a half dozen times.
- snapcaster 2y agoyeah people still do it but at least adding the "ultra" indicates is not something a person cooking for their family would be doing to food
- tjpnz 2y agoUntil you add ketchup.
- nightski 2y agoIt's just as dumb though because the act of processing doesn't really mean anything.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoIf it didn't mean anything then why the findings in the article?
- nightski 2y agoThe findings in the article basically came down to - people eat more calories when it tastes good. Even the article itself admits there are a multitude of other factors that could account for the results other than UPF.
- snapcaster 2y agoIt absolutely does if you're able to take off the pedantry glasses for like 5 seconds. Why are you nitpicking this? is it because you actually think articles like this are about chopping carrots? "if it couldn't be made outside of a factory, don't eat it." from someone else in the comments is pretty clear
- mewpmewp2 2y agoWhy jump from one weird statement to another? Maybe even a worse one?
- cynicalpeace 2y agoHere we go again...
- mewpmewp2 2y agoIt's still a misleading term, so it would be good to talk about what the actual harm is, as to not confuse people. And it does confuse, since I vividly remember as a kid being confused by it, and it's important to have healthy habits from a young age. It always sounded a bit weird that food being "processed" means it's bad, so I didn't understand it really. And if you don't focus on the harm, but use terms like this, it's hard to say what is pseudoscience and what is actual science.
- aidenn0 2y agoSomeone will have to explain to me why so many people claim that honey is not a "refined sugar." If bees do the refining than it doesn't count?
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoOlive oil, steel cut oats, and dried beans, are processed. It's to differentiate from things like Coca-Cola or TV dinners.
- cynicalpeace 2y agoIt's funny that it's only the high IQ types that have difficulty distinguishing beans from coca cola.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoIt's what I like to call being so smart they're stupid. Everyone strives to be the smartest most pedantic one in the room around here.
- user_7832 2y agoJust as a side note/for info, there’s a specific definition (I think by the FAO?) used for them. The tldr is that when you’re extracting/reacting something to use as an ingredient (eg hydrogenated oil), it becomes ultra processed.
- rsynnott 2y agoWell, it's only _over_-processed if we assume it is _bad_. A consensus does seem to be emerging that it _is_ bad, but building that right into the name seems unhelpful. And as alluded to in the article, what the point is after which something is 'over'-processed is not particularly clear.
- TheBigSalad 2y agoProce-X'ed foods
- willcipriano 2y ago> some other more neutral term Nutrient dense/high calorie is probably more accurate.
- snapcaster 2y agoThis would encompass eggs and is leaving out what might be key components (engineered by food scientists and produced in factory)
- ninalanyon 2y agoUltra-processed foods are broadly speaking foods that cannot be produced in a normal domestic or restaurant kitchen.