In the fevered world of diet and nutrition, the past year has been dominated by heated arguments about the evils (or not) of ultra-processed foods. These have not just been confined to the media but have, unusually, engendered equally fractious debate in academic circles. So what is the “truth” about UPFs? Are they as bad for health as many claim? And how are consumers, armed with this information, meant to navigate the supermarket aisles?
The processing of food, including cooking, fermentation, pickling, curing and smoking, is as ancient as humankind. These processes reduced the chances of food poisoning, increased nutritional availability and ensured that we had a predictable source of calories through seasonal changes in the availability of fresh food. They were critical to our ability as a species to survive and eventually thrive.
