wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread, low-fat yoghurts and baked beans, have mostly green or amber traffic lights because they have a healthier nutrient profile, and are lower in fat, saturates, salt and sugar.And, with millions of people in the UK suffering from food insecurity, they can be affordable source of essential nutrients.” It’s a confusing state of affairs for consumers, but Professor Gunter Kuhnle, professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Reading, suggests it’s best for consumers not to worry too much about UPFs, as long as they eat a healthy balanced diet. Referring to the new UPF study, he says: “Unsurprisingly, the authors found many foods that are ultra-processed are high in fat, salt and sugar, and would be considered to be ‘unhealthy’ under existing food classification models. However, the authors also highlight that not all ultra- processed foods have an ‘unhealthy’ composition and would indeed be classed as healthy.” He says there’s currently no evidence to suggest that processing has an adverse impact on health beyond food composition and possibly texture, and points out that because UPFs are usually easier to eat and may be tastier, people tend to eat more of them. “People consume more ultra-processed foods because they tend to be more palatable,” he explains.“People are getting bigger and bigger – is it just because they’re consuming more sugar in UPFs, for example? “Are UPFs necessarily bad for you? I think no, but that’s the big question and we simply don’t know the answer. There are some UPFs that are bad, and some that are not. We know high fat and high sugar aren’t good for health, but is something in the consumption of UPFs bad?” Kuhnle stresses that shifting the focus of public health messaging from a well-understood system of food composition to “a rather ambiguous system of processing is likely to result in confusion, but not a better diet.
“Most people know what they should eat – the difficulty is actually doing it.”
He points out that fish fingers would be considered a UPF, for example, but says: “If a child won’t eat fish but will eat fish fingers, that’s a great way of getting them to eat fish, even if it’s a UPF.” He adds:“I would generally say don’t worry – have a balanced diet and think about what’s in the food and don’t worry about UPFs too much in moderation.”
mccarthyholden.co.uk | 93
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting