Stop vilifying "ultra-processed foods"

If you object to objectionable excesses of fat, sugar, and salt, then object to those; not to cutting, cooking, and freezing.

About the only sane book on eating that I know of — by my Good friend Craig.

The organic lobby is constantly trying to scare you away from food they don’t make money on. And the world press, always conscious of appealing to the wellness-obsessed masses, happily amplifies these fears:

• National Geographic: “Ultra-processed food isn't just bad for your health — it messes with your mind.”

• NPR: “Ultraprocessed foods dominate our food landscape, and a substantial and expanding body of research consistently links excessive consumption of these items to adverse health effects.”

• Sentient Science: “These foods, which make up more than half of the calories consumed at home in the U.S., are optimized to bypass our body’s natural satiety cues.”

• BMJ Global Health: “The health harms of ultra-processed foods are well documented, but consumers are not informed or warned about these risks.” (We’re not? I get hit over the head with it every day.)

What exactly is an “ultra-processed food” (UPF)? Well, nothing… it is not a defined term, at least not by the FDA. Different definitions can be found all over the web, usually including weasel words like “industrial” — e.g., Wikipedia’s definition is “an industrial creation derived from natural food or synthesized from other organic compounds.^”

Strictly speaking, of course, a processed food has undergone some common processes, and we can infer that a UPF has undergone more of them. Here are the most common food processes:

• Cooking

• Canning and packaging

• Freezing

• Dehydration

• Fermentation

• Pasteurization

• Mechanical processing (cutting, blending, grinding, milling, etc.)

• Smoking

• Addition of additives (preservatives, colorings, flavorings, emulsifiers, etc., all of which are explicitly approved as safe)

• Irradiation

No rational argument can be made that any food process produces an unhealthy food (if they did, we wouldn’t do them). For example, pasteurization is considered one of history’s greatest advances in food safety. Preservatives make it possible for your food to be shipped, stored, retailed, purchased, and have it still remain unspoiled and safe.