2nd November 2026
Ultra processed food
“In the past fifty years, our diets have undergone the biggest shift for 12,000 years – since the dawn of agriculture.” (P109 Eat the Planet Well) Goulson describes that earlier shift as being from a hunter-gatherer diet of great diversity to one of a more limited diet of what could easily be farmed, with a reliance on grains – a limitation that itself caused dietary deficiencies. Fast forward to the twentieth century, and alongside a growing obsession with nutrition, a growth in ultra processed foods. These are, in essence, synthetic foods made from a limited number of ingredients – principally wheat, rice, corn and soy – that re-created into a diverse range of foodstuffs by “extracting substances such as oils, starch, sugar and protein from basic foodstuffs, or by grinding and pureeing animal carcasses, and then reconstituting these substances with gelling agents, salt, flavour enhancers, anti-foaming agents, sweetness, colours, preservatives, antipyretic, emulsifiers and stabilisers” writes Goulson. “The food industry loves such products, as they are based in cheap ingredients and hence can be sold at a very profitable market-up. Preservatives are added to ensure the convenience of a long shelf life, and most of these products require little or no preparation before eating. Moreover, these synthetic foods are designed to be moreish and slow to induce satiation, so that we eat a lot of them; this is good for profits, not so good for us.
“A further advantage of UPFs from a food industry persevere is that they can be tinkered with to suit the latest food FSDA or nutritional advice, making it seem like they are the healthy choice. You might replace sugar with sweetener, add a few vitamins to a sugary cereal, or use more than one type of refined grain to bake a loaf of wholesome-sounding ‘multigrain’ bread. Even Pringles now come in a ‘multigrain’ option.” (P110 and 111)
What are the health hazards of UPFs? Goulson refers us to a systematic review of twenty-three relevant studies that “concluded that high levels of consumption were associated with increased mortality, obesity, low HDL cholesterol and metabolic syndrome (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity)” whilst other studies pointed to risks of depression, higher risks of cancer, and of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. (P119)
How to identify UPFs? Goulson starts with Michael Pollan’s advice:
- don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food, and avoid food products containing ingredients that are
- Unfamiliar
- Unpronounceable
- More than five in number* or that
- Include high-fructose corn syrup. To which Goulson adds, anything where sugar comprises more than 10% by weight of contains artificial sweeteners; or ingredients thtvhve been hydrogenated, refined, hydrolysed, modified, bleached or enriched. (P121-2)
Goulson also points out that vegan and vegetarian foods are as equally likely to be highly processed in including vegan sausages, cream, cheeses etc.
He concludes: “Remember that, on average, UK, US and Canadian citizens consume about 50-60% of their calories as ultra-processed foods; it is that which makes us ill. Treating yourself to the odd packet of crisps or an icecream or whatever else tickles your fancy, is fine.” (P125)
* Although bear in mind that a curry or tagine, say, may well have a lot more ingredients given the variety and range of spices and vegetables included.
