If you’ve glanced at a nutrition label lately, you may have found yourself stumbling trying to pronounce ingredients like carboxymethyl cellulose or butylated hydroxyltoluene. In the United States, 73% of the food supply is what researchers would today call “ultra-processed” (think chips, sodas, microwave dinners, packaged bread and fast food) – and products are often packed full of those difficult-to-say ingredients.
Ultra-processed foods (or UPFs) are commonly composed of two types of ingredients: industrial food substances and cosmetic additives. While industrial food substances are highly processed versions of ingredients that might otherwise occur in food (proteins, carbohydrates, sugars and oils, for example), cosmetic additives are included to improve the appearance or taste of foods.
