For many of us, it's become all too familiar: a bag of chips or a processed snack that promises convenience but delivers regret. But what exactly makes these foods so bad for our health? Researchers have identified a group of foods that are particularly problematic - ultra-processed foods.
The term "ultra-processed" was coined by researchers in 2009 as part of their Nova food classification system, which groups foods into four categories. The first three categories include unprocessed or minimally processed foods like whole fruits and vegetables, milk, oats, and rice; basic ingredients used in cooking such as salt, sugar, and vegetable oils; and processed foods made by combining items from the previous two groups.
The problem lies with group four: ultra-processed foods. These are commercial products that have been heavily manipulated through industrial processes, often using extracts of foods, added chemicals, flavors, and other ingredients you wouldn't find in a home kitchen. The issue is not just about an unbalanced diet, but the fact that these foods are fundamentally not "real food" and are more likely to cause health problems.
So how can you spot ultra-processed foods? A long list of unfamiliar names such as maltodextrin and soy lecithin is often a dead giveaway. But this requires some knowledge of what those ingredients are and where they come from.
Fortunately, there are resources available to help. The Open Food Facts app allows you to search for products and see their category, including whether they fall under the ultra-processed foods group. And now, we're putting your knowledge to the test with our quiz.
Test your understanding of ultra-processed foods and find out how well you can spot them in your daily diet. With a little practice and some insider knowledge, you'll be making healthier choices in no time.
The term "ultra-processed" was coined by researchers in 2009 as part of their Nova food classification system, which groups foods into four categories. The first three categories include unprocessed or minimally processed foods like whole fruits and vegetables, milk, oats, and rice; basic ingredients used in cooking such as salt, sugar, and vegetable oils; and processed foods made by combining items from the previous two groups.
The problem lies with group four: ultra-processed foods. These are commercial products that have been heavily manipulated through industrial processes, often using extracts of foods, added chemicals, flavors, and other ingredients you wouldn't find in a home kitchen. The issue is not just about an unbalanced diet, but the fact that these foods are fundamentally not "real food" and are more likely to cause health problems.
So how can you spot ultra-processed foods? A long list of unfamiliar names such as maltodextrin and soy lecithin is often a dead giveaway. But this requires some knowledge of what those ingredients are and where they come from.
Fortunately, there are resources available to help. The Open Food Facts app allows you to search for products and see their category, including whether they fall under the ultra-processed foods group. And now, we're putting your knowledge to the test with our quiz.
Test your understanding of ultra-processed foods and find out how well you can spot them in your daily diet. With a little practice and some insider knowledge, you'll be making healthier choices in no time.
like i know they're bad for me but they taste soooo good 
gotta try to cut back on them tho 
maybe i can find some new snacks that are healthier 
I think it's amazing that researchers have identified these super problematic foods that are just masquerading as convenient snacks 
. Like, we all know those chips and cookies aren't doing our bodies any favors... but did you know there's even a fancy term for them? Ultra-processed foods are literally not real food! 
It makes total sense that they're linked to health problems - all that added junk is just asking for trouble 
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! The Open Food Facts app sounds like a lifesaver... who needs Google when you have apps that do the legwork? 
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! I mean, think about it, we've all been guilty of reaching for those convenient snacks when we're on-the-go, but now we can be more aware and make better choices. And yeah, it's cool that there's an app like Open Food Facts to help us identify what we're eating - it's like having a superpower 
! I'm excited to try out the quiz and see how much I know about ultra-processed foods - let's get learning and crunching those unhealthy habits in the trash 
!
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. Like, we've known for a while that they're not good for us, but now there's actual science backing it up? That's kinda mind blown. I mean, I try to avoid them as much as possible, but I'm sure some of my friends and family are still hooked on those ultra-processed snacks 
so I was just reading this article about ultra-processed foods and it's crazy to think that they're the ones we're eating every day without even realizing it... like, have you ever looked at a bag of chips or a pizza and thought "wait a minute, what's really in this?" 
because apparently, the ingredients are some pretty sketchy stuff 
. Can't we just have a good ol' discussion without being forced to play along? And what's with the app thingy? Like, who uses an app to check if their snacks are ultra-processed foods? It's just another example of how convoluted and commercialized everything has become 
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