How to identify ultra-processed food and what to eat instead

Ultra-processed foods are highly altered and typically contain a lot of added salt, sugar, fat, and industrial chemical additives. Scientists have shown that eating a lot of ultra-processed food is linked to poorer health.     

Although regularly eating ultra-processed foods like chips, microwave meals, candy, and chicken nuggets is not the path to good health, processed food is not all bad.

In this article, we dive into the research and explore the difference between processed and ultra-processed food, why too much of some kinds of ultra-processed food may be harmful to our health, and how we can consume less of it to achieve a better balance.

What is ultra-processed food? 

The terms “processed” and “ultra-processed” are thrown around a lot and are usually associated with something negative, but what makes something processed or ultra-processed?  

Unless you’re eating the broccoli you harvested directly from your garden, most of the food we eat daily has undergone some form of processing. But that’s not a bad thing, as we’ll discover.

Processing food means changing its natural state to prolong its shelf life, make it safe to store or eat, enhance its taste, or even increase its nutritional value. 

Methods like pasteurizing, canning, fermenting, freezing, and drying foods are forms of processing.

When a food is ultra-processed, it means that the manufacturer uses industrial methods and ingredients that you may not recognize, and wouldn't use in home cooking. 

The NOVA food classification system divides food products into four groups based on how much processing they have gone through. 

The four NOVA groups are as follows:

1. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods

Minimally processed or unprocessed food has not been altered or has no added ingredients. Washed and bagged spinach, pre-cut fresh fruit, or frozen vegetables are all minimally processed. They’re made to be more convenient to consume, but their nutritional value hasn’t been altered. 

2. Processed culinary ingredients

Processed culinary ingredients are made from unprocessed foods through simple processing. This group includes oil, butter, sugar, salt, dried herbs, and spices. They are added to other foods rather than eaten by themselves. 

3. Processed foods

Processed foods are partially altered by adding sugar, oil, fat, salt, and other culinary ingredients to minimally processed foods. Processed foods like cheese, homemade or artisanal bread, and tofu have been altered, but not in a way that’s bad for our health.

4. Ultra-processed foods 

Ultra-processed foods are entirely altered and often have high levels of unhealthy fats, refined sugars, and salt. 

They also undergo industrial processes, like hydrogenation and moulding, and contain additives like dyes, stabilizers, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, and defoaming agents. 

These foods are very calorie-dense and don’t contain many, if any, valuable nutrients. Cookies, chips, and fast food are all ultra-processed. 

Ultra-processed foods are engineered to be convenient, extra tasty, and highly profitable for the companies that make them.

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Is ultra-processed food unhealthy?

The consensus is that most forms of ultra-processed food are unhealthy. Diets high in ultra-processed foods have been linked with increased risk of heart disease, weight gain, cancer, and even mortality — but why? 

Processing changes the complex structure of nutrients in a food, which scientists call the food matrix.

Furthermore, research has shown that changes in the food matrix alter the way our bodies respond to food, potentially putting us at risk of these health conditions. 

Let’s look at what the research says about ultra-processed food and its effect on our health. 

One study analyzed the diets of more than 44,000 French adults for 7 years and found that high consumption of ultra-processed foods was linked with an increased risk of death. A study of almost 20,000 adults in Spain had similar findings. 

Another large study of over 100,000 French adults followed over 5 years showed that eating more ultra-processed foods was linked with a greater risk of heart disease.

A similar analysis of the same participants found that a 10% increase in ultra-processed food consumption was linked with a 12% higher risk of cancer.

Although these studies were significant, their observational nature cannot prove cause and effect. 

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Effects of eating ultra-processed food

One recent clinical trial, however, studied what happened when participants ate ultra-processed food in detail. 

The scientists asked 20 people to live in a dedicated clinical trial unit for 4 weeks. They presented the participants with either ultra-processed or unprocessed diets for 2 weeks, immediately followed by the alternate diet for 2 weeks.  

The volunteers could eat as much or as little as they liked. The researchers found that the participants who ate the ultra-processed diet consumed roughly an extra 500 calories a day, compared with those eating the unprocessed diet. 

This led to an average weight gain of 2 pounds in the 2 weeks that the volunteers ate the ultra-processed food.

Aside from weight gain, scientists believe that ultra-processed foods also affect gut health. This could be because ultra-processed food often lacks fiber, which plays an essential role in keeping your microbiome healthy.

ZOE’s PREDICT study, the largest nutritional study of its kind, showed that eating a diet rich in highly processed foods was associated with an increase of “bad” or potentially harmful gut microbes. 

The microbes in your gut play a key role in your health. They help support a healthy immune system, digest your food, and regulate how your body responds to what you eat.

A gut microbiome that heavily features potentially harmful “bad” bacteria has been linked with a greater risk of developing cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. 

The ZOE program can identify which bacteria are in your gut and how your body responds to the food you eat, helping you make informed choices about your health and how to best nourish your body. 

For more information on the links between UPFs and health, try these next:

• Are ultra-processed foods linked to cognitive decline and dementia?

• Do ultra-processed foods impact mental health?

List of ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed food is incredibly common, and chances are that most of us eat some ultra-processed food daily.  

People in the U.S. and the U.K. consume more than half of their calories each day from ultra-processed food. Remember, this type of food is not only inexpensive, but also heavily marketed. 

Many people rely on ultra-processed food to feed themselves and their families because it’s affordable and accessible. Having the time, resources, and facilities to consume and cook fresh food is a privilege that not everyone has.

Examples of common ultra-processed foods are:  

• soda and carbonated drinks

• sweet and savory packaged snacks (e.g., chips and cookies)

• breakfast cereal 

• instant noodles

• microwave-ready meals 

• energy bars or granola bars

• candy

• fast food 

• sausages, hot dogs, and cold cuts

• store-bought bread

How to avoid UPFs

One way to reduce how much ultra-processed food you eat is by prioritizing unprocessed or minimally processed food. 

Unprocessed or minimally processed foods you can increase in your diet include: 

• fruit and vegetables (both fresh and frozen)

• dried fruits and nuts with no added sugar, salt, or oil 

• pulses and legumes (such as chickpeas and lentils)

• whole grain starchy carbohydrates (whole wheat bread, oats, whole wheat pasta)

• fresh meat, poultry, fish, and eggs

• plain or natural yogurt with no added sugar

• spices and herbs

• tea, coffee, water

We also have advice on how to avoid added sugars, and how to reduce your kids' UPF intake.

The takeaway

Although research shows that regularly eating certain ultra-processed foods may be bad for your health, cutting these out of your diet entirely may be a challenge.  

It’s undeniable that what you eat affects your overall health long-term, and overconsuming ultra-processed food puts you at a higher risk of disease.

But there’s no need to get down on yourself for eating a frozen pizza or fast-food meal now and again. 

At ZOE, we believe that no food should be off limits and that you can have a balanced, healthy diet that occasionally includes ultra-processed food. 

To learn how the food that you eat uniquely affects your body, check out the ZOE program.

Using cutting-edge science from the world’s largest nutritional study, our program is tailored to your individual biology and will teach you how to make smart food swaps and combine foods to make them work for your body.