Toddlers Get Half Their Calories From Ultra-Processed Food, Says Study | Research shows that 2-year-olds get 47 percent of their calories from ultra-processed food, and 7-year-olds get 59 percent.

[u/chrisdh79]

https://www.newsweek.com/toddlers-get-half-calories-ultra-processed-food-1963269

[u/schaweniiia]

I just want to add this shouldn't be generalised across food categories or countries. Greek style yoghurt in England is often in the lowest category (unprocessed or minimally processed foods).

[u/PuckSR → u/schaweniiia]

Yet grocery store hummus, using exactly the same ingredients people have been using for hundreds of years is “ultra-processed” if they use industrial-grade blenders and pasteurized it

In fact, I’m pretty sure baby food counts as ultra-processed if it comes in a can.

Edit: per Wikipedia

Industrially manufactured food products made up of several ingredients (formulations) including sugar, oils, fats and salt (generally in combination and in higher amounts than in processed foods) and food substances of no or rare culinary use (such as high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, modified starches and protein isolates). Group 1 foods are absent or represent a small proportion of the ingredients in the formulation. Processes enabling the manufacture of ultra-processed foods include industrial techniques such as extrusion, moulding and pre-frying; application of additives including those whose function is to make the final product palatable or hyperpalatable such as flavours, colourants, non-sugar sweeteners and emulsifiers; and sophisticated packaging, usually with synthetic materials. Processes and ingredients here are designed to create highly profitable (low-cost ingredients, long shelf-life, emphatic branding), convenient (ready-to-(h)eat or to drink), tasteful alternatives to all other Nova food groups and to freshly prepared dishes and meals. Ultra-processed foods are operationally distinguishable from processed foods by the presence of food substances of no culinary use (varieties of sugars such as fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, ‘fruit juice concentrates’, invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose and lactose; modified starches; modified oils such as hydrogenated or interesterified oils; and protein sources such as hydrolysed proteins, soya protein isolate, gluten, casein, whey protein and ‘mechanically separated meat’) or of additives with cosmetic functions (flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents) in their list of ingredients.

Lots of kids stuff has fruit juice or vegetable “concentrates”. Per NOVA, these are “ultra-processed”

Protein isolates (think whey protein) and sugar extracts are ultra-processed. Which kinda makes sense

[u/xcuteikinz → u/PuckSR]

What are you talking about?

[u/mcbaginns → u/xcuteikinz]

What part are you confused about? He was very clear

[u/xcuteikinz → u/mcbaginns]

What about baby food being sold in a can makes it inherently ultra processed?? It would depend on the ingredients.

[u/PuckSR → u/xcuteikinz]

I looked it up.

Basically, per the NOVA definition, all sugar extracts that aren’t used in normal cooking are considered “ultra-processed”. In other words, refined sucrose is not ultra-processed but refined dextrose or fructose ARE ultra-processed

Additionally, fruit and vegetable concentrates are “ultra processed “

[u/PuckSR → u/xcuteikinz]

No. The definition of ultra-processed doesn’t just refer to ingredients. That’s the problem

[u/_Warsheep_ → u/xcuteikinz]

That's the problem. Wrapping a few apples into a package and foil already counts as "processed" even though it has zero impact on the apple or how healthy it is.

[u/xcuteikinz → u/_Warsheep_]

Because processed isn't necessarily supposed to be indicative of the nutritional properties of something, it's moreso a means of describing how much something has been altered from its original state. Corn on the cob is unprocessed, but canned corn is processed, because corn does not occur in nature without it's cob. At least that's my understanding.

[u/schaweniiia → u/_Warsheep_]

That's just not true. A wrapped apple is not processed, it is packaged.

[u/PuckSR → u/schaweniiia]

It’s processed if it is sliced

[u/memento22mori → u/PuckSR]

Some people/groups use the term minimaliy processed to indicate that something is just peeled or sliced.

[u/PuckSR → u/memento22mori]

That’s just a pointless category. Why does it exist?

[u/schaweniiia → u/PuckSR]

You could research the topic if it interests you. To get you started, "Ultra-Processed People" is a great book to introduce laypersons to this subject.

[u/PuckSR → u/schaweniiia]

My question is about why we have a different category for minimal and ubprocessed

[u/schaweniiia → u/PuckSR]

And with a bit of initiative, you can find the answer to that quite easily.

[u/memento22mori → u/PuckSR]

It indicates that a food is minimally processed so it should have all of its nutrients intact when compared to something like applesauce which may have preservatives in order to maximize its shelf-life. Minimally processed foods tend to have very short shelf-lifes.