What's the Deal with Ultra-Processed Food?

You may have heard the term “ultra-processed food” more and more lately — but what does it actually mean, and should we be worried?

We asked our volunteer Meriel, who recently completed a project on the topic, to break it down for us.

“A simple way to think about ultra-processed food is this: if it contains ingredients you likely wouldn’t have in your own kitchen, it’s probably ultra-processed.”

This everyday definition offers a useful starting point, but there’s a more official system too: the NOVA classification, which groups foods by how much processing they’ve undergone. It’s not always black-and-white, though. Some ultra-processed foods are obvious, while others might surprise you: breakfast cereals, supermarket bread, and flavoured yoghurts are all common culprits.

Meriel’s own project focused on protein bars — many of which contain long lists of additives and ingredients you might struggle to recognise. But she also notes that not all processed food is “bad”; what matters is how much of it makes up our daily diet.

“In the UK, up to 60% of the average diet comes from ultra-processed food. That number is even higher for children and young people — and the long-term health impacts still aren’t fully known.”

We were curious about the food we stock. From what Meriel has seen, the majority of our shop’s food offerings: lentils, oats, almonds, pulses and grains are minimally processed. Some of the snack bars at the till may fall into the ultra-processed category, but on the whole, we’re doing pretty well.

For those wanting to learn more, Meriel recommends:

• Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken – available in the shop
• A Thorough Examination podcast (BBC Sounds/Spotify) – hosted by the Van Tulleken twins, with a whole series dedicated to UPFs

- Information from Meriel, one of our volunteers at October Books