30-year study links ultra-processed food to higher risk of early death

Sub: Science and tech

Sec: Health

Context:

According to U.S. observational study, Higher consumption of most ultra-processed foods is linked to a slightly higher risk of death.

About the study:

Compared with participants in the lowest quarter of ultra-processed food intake (average three servings per day), those in the highest quarter (average seven servings per day) had a 4% higher risk of total deaths.

What are Processed Foods?

A processed food is any food that has been altered in some way during preparation.

Food processing can be as basic as:

Not all processed foods are unhealthy but some processed foods may contain high levels of salt, sugar and fat.

What Are the Types of Processed Foods?

The United Nations has a food grouping scale called the NOVA food classification. It puts food into four groups:

Group one: Unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

This group includes foods like fresh blueberries, roasted nuts, chopped vegetables, or other foods that have slight changes.
These foods are prepared like this to make them easier to access.
This group might also include things that have been dried, frozen, refrigerated, filtered, fermented, or put in vacuum-sealed packages.
This is meant to preserve the natural foods and allow you to safely eat them later.

Group two: Processed culinary ingredients.

This group contains options like butter, oils, sugar, or salts.
They’re ingredients that come from nature but are slightly changed.
They may have been pressed, refined, milled, or dried.
They’ve gone through this process to make it easier for you to use them in your kitchen.
These options aren’t supposed to be eaten alone.
They’re meant to be added to foods during meal preparation.

Group three: Processed foods.

These include canned fish, fruits in syrup, bottled vegetables, cheese, fresh bread, or other options that were made with added salt, oil, sugar, or other things from groups one or two.
Most of these foods have two or three ingredients. They’re edible by themselves but can also be added to other dishes. The food in this group was processed to make it more stable or add to its qualities.

Group four: Ultra-processed food and drink products.

This group contains foods that are typically the result of intensive manufacturing processes.
They’re created from foods and additives and don’t relate much to group one foods.
Like other options, these foods include sugars, oils, fats, and salt.
They also have ingredients taken from other foods, like casein, lactose, gluten, whey, hydrogenated oils, protein isolate, maltodextrin, invert sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup.
Ultra-processed options have a lot of preservatives, dyes, colors, added flavors, non-sugar sweeteners, or other ingredients that change the texture or appearance of the food.

What are Ultra Processed Foods?

Ultra-processed food is an industrially formulated edible substance derived from natural food or synthesized from other organic compounds.
The resulting products are designed to be highly profitable, convenient, and hyperpalatable, often through food additives such as preservatives, colourings, and flavorings.
Ultra-processed foods include items such as cake, sugary cereal, baked goods, soft drinks, bacon, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, frozen pizza, and ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat meals.