We know ultra-processed foods are bad for you – but can you spot them? Take our quiz

It’s not always easy to tell which foods are ultra-processed. Composite: Guardian Design

A major global report released this week linked ultra-processed foods to harm in every major human organ. For people in the US, the UK and Australia, these foods make up more than half the calories they consume each day.

But it’s not always easy to tell which foods are ultra-processed.

The term was coined in 2009 by researchers at the University of São Paulo, as part of their Nova food classification system that sorts foods into four groups:

• Group one: unprocessed or minimally processed foods including whole fruits and vegetables, milk, oats and rice.

• Group two: processed basic ingredients used in cooking including salt, sugar and vegetable oils.

• Group three: processed foods made by adding items from groups one and two. Includes canned legumes, bread and cheese.

• Group four: ultra-processed foods which are commercial products made from extracts of foods, often with added chemicals, flavours and other ingredients you wouldn’t find in a home kitchen.

While there can be health harms from an unbalanced diet of foods in any of the groups – for example, those containing too much salt – researchers say the problem with group four is that the processes used to make them and the industrial ingredients they contain mean they are not “real food” and are more likely to cause health problems.

But they can be hard to spot. A long ingredients list with names you don’t recognise (hello maltodextrin and soy lecithin) is a giveaway for ultra-processed foods.

If you’re unsure, the Open Food Facts app lets you search for products and see their category. In the meantime, test your knowledge of ultra-processed foods with our quiz.

1. Let’s start easy. Spot the ultra-processed food out of the following:

   1. A whole apple

   2. Sea salt flakes

   3. Tinned corn

   4. Packaged chips

2. Which plant-based alternative to meat is ultra-processed?

   1. Tofu

   2. Imitation meat

   3. Tempeh

   4. Tinned chickpeas

3. Now pick the yoghurt product that ISN'T ultra-processed:

   1. Low-fat caramel-flavoured yoghurt

   2. Greek yoghurt

   3. A peach-flavoured yoghurt with the phrase “only natural ingredients” on the package. Ingredients include “guar gum".

   4. Kefir yoghurt which contains organic strawberries and “natural flavour”.

4. Let’s look at your pantry staples. Which is ultra-processed?

   1. Pasta

   2. Sliced bread

   3. Microwave plain rice

   4. Oats

5. Would nut butters – almond, peanut butter, etc – be classified as …

   1. Minimally processed

   2. Processed

   3. Ultra-processed

   4. Any of the above, depending how the butter is made

6. Which ingredient would make a tomato sauce qualify as ultra-processed?

   1. Sugar

   2. Steviol glycosides

   3. Onion powder

   4. Spirit vinegar

7. Lunch on the go. Which of these is not ultra-processed?

   1. Pre-packaged sandwich

   2. Instant soup

   3. A frozen organic pizza made from flour, yeast, salt, water, olive oil, tomato paste, and mozzarella cheese

   4. Frozen chicken nuggets

8. Which ingredient would make a plant-based milk qualify as ultra-processed?

   1. Hulled soya beans

   2. Vegetable oil

   3. Vegetable gum (Gellan)

   4. Vitamin B12

Solutions

1:D, 2:B - Most packaged imitation meats are highly processed and contain additives, 3:B - If a Greek or plain yoghurt’s ingredient list contains just pasteurised milk and live active cultures, it’s not ultra-processed, 4:B - Most packaged sliced breads in supermarkets contain emulsifiers like sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate and monoglycerides, modified starches and vegetable gums. If you can recognise the ingredients in the loaf you’re choosing, then it’s not considered ultra-processed. Fresh bakery breads would also not be ultra-processed, 5:D - A nut butter made only from crushed nuts is considered minimally processed. Once salt or sugar is added, it becomes processed. If manufacturers add emulsifiers and other ingredients you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen, it’s ultra-processed, 6:B, 7:C - Not all frozen, ready-to-eat meals are ultra-processed. Often it’s a matter of checking the ingredients list, 8:C

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   Congratulations, you are ultra-impressive at detecting ultra-processed foods. Keep up the good work in the shopping aisles!

2. 0 and above.

   It’s not always easy to tell what foods are ultra-processed - but hopefully you’ve learned something new about what foods are most likely to be!

• With thanks to Dr Priscila Machado from the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University for checking this quiz for accuracy