What Is the Difference Between Minimally and Ultra-Processed Food?

When we enter a supermarket and reach the carbohydrate-heavy section, we think we should avoid it. For years we have heard how bad these foods are for our bodies and been advised to stay away. But let us refresh why this advice exists and exactly what we should avoid.

You may recently have seen a new term in nutrition news: ultra-processed foods! These appear in reports under headlines such as “foods you must avoid.”

So, what is the difference between normally or minimally processed foods and “ultra”-processed foods, and what does it mean for your health?

The International Food Information Council defines processed food as a food altered from its original form . Heating, pasteurizing, canning, and drying all qualify. Some definitions even include refrigeration.

Thus, unless we pick apples directly from a tree or drink milk directly from a cow, most food we eat is technically processed. But basic preparation and preservation techniques do not turn healthy foods (such as whole grains or frozen vegetables) into “junk food.” Eating something that has undergone a process does not mean it is unhealthy!

Perhaps it is time to refresh our thinking about processed foods and focus more on ultra-processed foods. Research considers increased obesity and cancer risk among the general health problems for which ultra-processed foods are identified as examples of potentially causative foods.

- Related Topic: Scientific Study Showing the Link Between Ultra-Processed Foods and Cancer

However, the boundaries around ultra-processed foods are less clear than those around processed foods generally. Exactly what the term means varies depending on whom you ask.

The idea of ultra-processed foods was first introduced in 2016 by a Brazilian nutrition research team investigating cancer and diet.

A more comprehensive study using repeated dietary records from 105 thousand participants in the French NutriNet-Santé cohort, covering 3300 different foods and 24-hour records, investigated the relationship between ultra-processed foods and cancer .

According to this study, a % 10 increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a greater than % 10 increase in overall and breast cancer risk. Further studies are needed to better understand the various aspects of ultra-processed foods’ effects on cancer (nutritional composition, additives, contact materials, and newly formed contaminants).

What Exactly Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

There seems to be no single accepted definition, but common characteristics shape the concept. For example, changes turning a “normally” processed food into an ultra-processed one occur in tertiary processing , the final stage of food production.

The 3 Stages of Food Processing

Typical food processing occurs in three stages. Understanding them is important because it can help you independently determine how processed a food is and what your standards are.

Primary and secondary stages involve basic preparation that takes food from its raw state to something edible.

The first stage of processing ensures food is edible. Grain harvesting, shelled nuts, and slaughtered chickens are all considered primary processing. Foods undergoing only this stage are generally considered “whole” foods. Secondary steps create a more complex, finished, “processed” product. Ultra-processed foods undergo a third stage when manufacturers add flavor, sugar, fat, and chemical preservatives. Small changes can alter how much ultra-processed food is in your diet. Below is a smart graphic showing the stages and helping you make changes:

One processed food people ask about most is pasta. Pasta ranges from homemade to ultra-processed. Increasingly popular in recent years, sold in distinctive packages and quickly consumed after adding hot water, instant noodles are ultra-processed. Traditional whole-wheat or durum-wheat pasta belongs to the minimally processed group, provided no fat or sugar is added. Homemade whole-wheat noodles learned from our elders belong to the home version group. Supermarkets increasingly offer pasta close to homemade. There may be concern about how accurately manufacturers represent ingredients, but products with certain quality standards can be considered more accurately labeled. You can determine processing level by reading the label; heavily processed products have longer ingredient lists. If fat and sugar are added, that pasta has become ultra-processed.

In short, ultra-processed foods are probably what most of us think of as processed foods: shiny, packaged, far-from-natural products found at fast-food restaurants or on gas station shelves.

A long ingredient list on the label is the easiest way to recognize an ultra-processed food. Research in 2016 examining their prevalence in the American diet called them formulations “containing salt, sugar, oils and fats, as well as substances not used in culinary preparations.”

We Can Avoid Highly Processed Foods

Understanding how foods become highly processed can help minimize your intake. Becoming a good label reader helps you choose products with fewer ingredients and reduce ultra-processed substances consumed at home.

Conclusion

Years of diet culture have taught us which foods are generally “bad” and “good.” Remember that all “processed” foods are not necessarily bad for you .

Shopping on a full stomach helps you make good choices by thinking with your mind rather than your stomach. Before your next supermarket visit, preparing a shopping list and reading food labels can help you make sound decisions.

Related Topic

Processed Meat Found to Increase Breast Cancer Risk as Well as Colon Cancer Risk

When Does a Carcinogen Cause Cancer?