For example, canned tomatoes, canned and dried chickpeas, lentils and beans, and frozen vegetables and fruit. There are also foods that are technically ‘processed’ but which are highly useful and nutritious. Milk can be simply and minimally processed, or have sugar, flavouring and fat added to make chocolate milk. Or it can be ultra-processed, containing many extra ingredients including several types of sugar.Ĭereal can be simply whole grains such as oats, or it can be highly-processed, extruded, refined, and formed into shapes with added sugars, fats and salt.
Different types of processing can have an effect on the healthiness or otherwise of a food, and foods in the same category can be both minimally processed and ultra-processed.įor example, yoghurt can be minimally processed, with no sugar or thickeners added. It’s now recognised that we need to look at foods not only in terms of their nutrients, but also in terms of the degree of processing they’ve undergone, and the effect this can have on human health. The processing of foods is starting to get more attention from health researchers. Rates of obesity and diabetes have correspondingly risen very rapidly. In other high-income countries and settings, and in middle- and low-income countries, these products are rapidly displacing traditional dietary patterns based on minimally processed foods and freshly prepared dishes and meals. The food supplies of high-income countries with less strong culinary traditions, such as the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, have become dominated by packaged, ready-to-consume products. Since the 1980s a monolithic global industrial food system has emerged. In an article on the NOVA system, its creators explain: These foods are often cheaper and more convenient than whole foods, presenting an extra challenge people, especially those on low incomes.Īround the world the situation is similar, and this is having a negative effect on local food cultures and the health of people. UPFs are increasingly common in our food supply and are making up more and more of our diets it’s estimated 80% of shelf-stable products in the supermarket in NZ are ultra-processed. Common examples of ultra-processed foods are packaged snacks, instant noodles, chicken nuggets, carbonated drinks, reconstituted meat products and confectionery. The resulting foods are typically high in kilojoules and low in nutrients such as dietary fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals.
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