Latest news with #UPFs
Metro
06-07-2025
- Business
- Metro
'I made the first ready meals for supermarkets - now I fight deadly fake food'
If you go into a big supermarket, hundreds of ready meals stretch from floor to ceiling. You can find all sorts of meals there, from teriyaki chicken to paella and Lancashire hotspot. They're a massive part of our national diet. But just a few decades ago, such meals barely existed. There was no such thing as pre-prepared chilled food which could just be warmed up in its plastic tray – yet. Rosalind Rathouse, now 81, was one of the first people to develop this new type of food which would revolutionise our diet and health, not for the better. She set up a pre-made pies business, Piemaker, in the early 1980s, and its success led her to making pies and cakes for supermarkets including Waitrose and Harrods. She told Metro she was then approached to create a new style of product which could potentially be sold in stores. Rosalind created the samples, which were back then just pre-prepared versions of home-cooked dishes, put them into plastic containers provided, and took them to buyers who tasted them and quizzed her on how they were made. While frozen 'TV dinners' were invented in 1953, it was not until the 1980s that chilled meals designed to be microwaved became popular in supermarkets. In the years since, Rosalind said there has been a 'galloping' acceleration in how factory food is produced, moving further and further from the basics. 'In the 70s and 80s, we didn't know about ingredients like guar gum, Xanthan gum, and sodium metabisulfite,' she said. 'No one was doing that sort of thing. If things were preserved, they were preserved with natural vinegars. But now, even vinegar has preservatives in. Mustard is a preservative, but mustard has a preservative in it. Everything is to give it a longer shelf life, but that never used to happen. 'It probably was in the later 80s and 90s that the big change took place, and you could never have predicted it, never in a million years. 'That people are dying 40 years later, you can't even think about it.' In April, a study was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine which linked consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to nearly 18,000 early deaths in the UK, where it makes up 53% of people's energy intake. Looking at how ready meals have evolved in the years since she made them in small bakeries and kitchens, Rosalind is appalled, and thinks the health dangers of UPFs should be taken as seriously as cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol, or even the Covid pandemic. 'When the Covid deaths started, we were all so upset,' she said. 'And now it's 18,000 deaths linked to UPFs, and no-one's batting an eyelid.' Now, almost every ready meal sold comes with a familiar cardboard sleeve and peel-back plastic film. But back then, even the packaging was in the early stages of development, so Rosalind had to fix the plastic lids on with a clothes iron. 'I had to cover it with a cloth so it wouldn't melt, and then the heat would go through and let the plastic form onto the top of the dish,' she said. 'To get it off again, you'd have to cut it open.' She presented the meals to supermarket buyers, often things like stews and curries, which at that time were packaged separately from the rice, 'the sort of thing you could just put into your microwave and heat up'. 'I don't know how they developed them or if they did anything with them. But all I I know is, I did a lot of dishes for them,' she said. Grandmother Rosalind went into the food business after the sudden death of her brother in a road accident. Formerly a school teacher, she began to question how she wanted to spend her life, and eventually quit teaching to pursue 'a romantic idea of pies'. This led to forming Piemaker, which supplied pies to supermarkets, and even to the restaurant of the Orient Express train for three months, whose catering at the time was supplied by celebrity chef Prue Leith. For a time in the early 1980s, she was contracted to bake a thousand cakes for Waitrose per week at 79p each, which was later increased to 3,000 per week at 49p. This is a lot of cakes to churn out for a small business, and she struggled at first to make them in uniform sizes, until eventually buying a machine to dollop a specific size of cake batter into each box. It's hard to imagine a major supermarket commissioning such homemade products now, with so much now automated from the production of ingredients to the packaging. Rosalind said she has always been 'obsessed with pure ingredients', even when friends teased her for wanting to avoid MSG in her children's food: 'I always had the argument that if I wouldn't eat it, it can't be sold.' She was an early advocate for high quality ingredients in food manufacturing, opting for fresh and avoiding additives. But the dried egg and dried milk she sniffed at back then are now the least of our worries, with artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers and stabilisers increasingly linked to poor health. Looking at the food industry now, Rosalind said: 'It's a shock. You could do a good ready meal with flour, no additives, no modified starches, or modified protein. The reason they put those in is because they're cheap. 'If you did a really good, bulk-produced one, the price comes down and then there's no reason why they couldn't do proper food. I'm very upset with that.' If you speak to Rosalind, you wouldn't expect she was an early pioneer of convenience foods. Since 2002, she has devoted her life to teaching people to cook simple, healthy meals from scratch after founding the Cookery School at Little Portland Street in central London. Last week, the government outlined proposals to encourage supermarkets to promote healthier eating. While this is going in the right direction, she thinks it's 'too slow', and that the traffic light system for food should be reformed to indicate their level of processing, rather than the current system for salt, sugar and saturated fat. She is now spearheading a march later today to 'fight fake food', hoping to raise public awareness about UPFs and their health dangers. More Trending Starting at 12pm on Portland Place, marchers in chefs' hats (although they have been 'advised against' carrying rolling pins) will carry a big pie to the Houses of Parliament, urging the government to 'fix our broken food system'. 'As a cookery school we want to see real cooking back on the curriculum,' the march advert says. 'We also feel strongly that the government must agree on a legal definition of UPFs and reference UPFs in dietary recommendations. Only then can they consider UPF labelling and a UPF tax.' View More » Cookery School is also offering free online classes on YouTube called Cook For Victory , intended to teach beginners to cook in 20 days. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Doctor jailed for 'unnecessary genital exams' on teenage patients MORE: McDonald's fans fuming as fast food chain quietly puts menu prices up MORE: 106-year-old man gives secret to long life and he eats a mug of it every day Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
New Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Ultra-processed food vs Mental Health
Yet another concerning effect of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has come to light — and this time, it's not just about physical health. A recent study published in the journal Food Science & Nutrition has revealed a strong connection between UPF consumption, addictive eating patterns, and psychological distress, including anxiety, tension, and low mood. Experts decode the findings for CE, explaining why UPFs may be as emotionally harmful as they are nutritionally questionable. Ultra-processed foods have long been criticised for their poor nutritional value. Now, new evidence shows their impact runs deeper. Sujatha Stephen, RD, chief nutritionist at Yashoda Hospitals, Malakpet, points to the study conducted in Ankara, Turkey, involving nearly 4,000 adults. 'The research revealed a significant association between high UPF intake and emotional states like depression, anxiety, and stress, along with addictive eating behaviours,' she said. 'It suggests that UPF consumption may not be a mere dietary choice, but rather a coping mechanism for managing emotional discomfort,' she added. Sujatha explains that this coping mechanism is amplified by the way these foods are designed. Rich in sugar, salt, and fat — and engineered to be hyper-palatable — UPFs activate the brain's reward systems, providing temporary emotional relief. 'Those with higher scores on the Yale Food Addiction Scale also reported greater UPF consumption,' she explained, adding, 'Emotional states like depression and anxiety were positively correlated with UPF intake, further reinforcing the idea that distress can lead to overconsumption.' The study also revealed notable demographic patterns. Younger individuals, women, single people, and those not currently employed were more likely to consume high levels of UPFs. 'These groups may be more vulnerable due to lifestyle stressors and limited access to healthier alternatives,' she observed. This underscores the need for a multidimensional approach that combines nutritional guidance, mental health support, and community-level interventions.
The Star
12-06-2025
- Health
- The Star
Stop eating ultraprocessed food if you don't want an early death
With their poor diet, Americans face the highest increased risk of death among eight countries. — TNS People eating ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) might be snacking their way to an earlier death, says research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine . From white bread to soda, the hallmark features of UPFs include added sugar, salt, hydrogenated fats, artificial colours, preservatives and starches. UPFs make up roughly 58% of American diets, the most out of any country. According to lead study investigator Eduardo Nilson, as far as diets go, it's a potentially deadly one. 'We first estimated a linear association between the dietary share of UPFs and all-cause mortality, so that each 10% increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3%,' he said in a news release. Nilson and his team of researchers pooled data on UPFs from eight countries, including the United States. Worldwide, the US outranked every other featured country for having the highest concentration of UPFs in its diets. Americans consequently faced the highest increased risk of death – nearly 14%. The study estimated 124,000 premature deaths within the US were attributable to UPF consumption in 2018 alone. UPF consumption has previously been linked to 32 health conditions, including cancers, obesity and high blood pressure. Nilson and his team's work, however, has given researchers a better understanding of precisely how all of those different influences may be putting consumers at risk. 'UPFs affect health beyond the individual impact of high content of critical nutrients (sodium, trans fats and sugar) because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colourants, artificial flavours and sweeteners, emulsifiers and many other additives and processing aids. 'So, assessing deaths from all-causes associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health,' Nilson explained. While the US is facing the highest rate of attributable premature deaths, UPFs are becoming an expanding issue in many other countries. 'It is concerning that, while in high-income countries UPF consumption is already high but relatively stable for over a decade, in low- and middle-income countries the consumption has continuously increased, meaning that while the attributable burden in high-income countries is currently higher, it is growing in the other countries,' Nilson said. 'This shows that policies that disincentivise the consumption of UPFs are urgently needed globally, promoting traditional dietary patterns based on local fresh and minimally processed foods.' For this study, Nilson's team processed data on UPF consumption in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the US. – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Tribune News Service
New York Post
23-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Furious NYC moms rail against toxins in kid foods
Tara Ferrara's 7-year-old daughter began suffering from a baffling mix of symptoms four years ago — nausea, stomach pain and sudden, intense panic that struck without warning. As dozens of doctors worked to pinpoint the cause, they put the girl on a strict diet low in highly processed foods and free of gluten, dairy, corn, soy and histamines. For Ferrara, 39, figuring out what her daughter could safely eat was like trying to understand a foreign language. Advertisement 8 The Ferrara family strives to follow a diet packed with clean, whole foods. Clarissa Byrne 'Sometimes I feel like I can't work because I literally need to research food,' Ferrara, a speech and language pathologist from Brooklyn, told The Post. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) make up nearly 70% of calories in American kids' diets — and a jaw-dropping new White House report warns they may be fueling the nationwide rise in childhood chronic diseases. Advertisement The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission's report marks the Trump administration's first major push to confront what it calls a 'crisis' affecting more than 40% of young people across the country. 'We will follow the truth wherever it leads, uphold rigorous science, and drive bold policies that put the health, development and future of every child first,' HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said Thursday. Two New York moms raising children with chronic health issues told The Post that it can be an uphill battle to keep their kids' diets clean in a country where UPFs dominate supermarket shelves. UPFs explained Advertisement While there's no single, universally accepted definition, UPFs are generally packaged, ready-to-eat products that undergo extensive industrial processing to boost their flavor, texture and shelf life. They're often loaded with added sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and refined grains — and packed with preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, emulsifiers and stabilizers not commonly used in home cooking. 8 Most Americans don't go a day without eating ultra-processed foods. beats_ – UPFs usually contain little to no fruits, vegetables or whole grains and are typically low in fiber and other essential nutrients. Advertisement Researchers estimate that about 70% of the 300,000-plus branded food products in grocery stores fall into this category. Food fight Two years into the strict diet, Ferrara is still navigating the minefield — and slip-ups come with serious consequences. '[Food] really, really affects her and can trigger a flare-up where she's so uncomfortable gut-wise and brain-wise that she can't go to school,' said Ferrara, who co-owns Social City, which provides social support services for children. One recent mistake? The gluten-free, dairy-free pancakes her daughter eats every morning. Turns out they contain a corn-derived additive called maltodextrin — something Ferrara only discovered after calling the manufacturer. 'It was one of the ingredients that my eyes just skipped over, because I don't know what that is,' she said. 'Unknowingly, every morning I was giving her these gluten-free, dairy-free pancakes that actually have something that is highly inflammatory and ultra-processed.' 8 Food labels are frequently cited as a source of confusion for consumers. rosinka79 – The MAHA report warns that more than 2,500 food additives can be pumped into UPFs — all to enhance taste and texture and stretch shelf life. Advertisement Some additives have been linked to serious health concerns, including behavioral disorders, metabolic issues and even cancer. Take Red 40, for example. This food dye is found in popular snacks like Skittles and Doritos, as well as drinks like Pepsi. It has been tied to increased hyperactivity and irritability in children, especially if they have ADHD, and can trigger allergic reactions in others. Meanwhile, research shows titanium dioxide, found in everything from candies to sauces, may damage cells and even DNA. Then there are artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose and saccharin, which some studies suggest can disrupt the gut microbiome — a key player in metabolism, weight control and blood sugar regulation. Advertisement 8 Red dye 40 is also known as Allura Red AC. taidundua – Ferrara's younger daughter, 4, doesn't have food sensitivities — but keeping her diet clean is still a challenge. At school, playdates and other places outside the home, junk food is nearly impossible to avoid. 'She doesn't get directly affected immediately after she eats, but I know it's doing harm to her over the long term,' Ferrara said. 'Just because it doesn't outrightly show on every single person doesn't mean it's not doing the same damage internally.' According to the White House report, ultra-processed grains — found in cakes, cookies, breads and snack foods — dominate children's diets. These products are stripped of their bran and germ, removing essential fiber, vitamins and minerals. Advertisement 'The stripping of these components can lead to blood sugar spikes, increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes,' the report states. The sugar situation is just as grim. Ultra-processed sugars can be found in 75% of packaged foods. The average American consumes 17 teaspoons of added sugar a day — amounting to a whopping 60 pounds a year. 8 Many American children exceed the recommended daily limits for added sugar. HandmadePictures – Advertisement This sugar overload — especially from high-fructose corn syrup and other additives — may be playing a 'significant role' in the nation's rise of childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to the report. But it's not just the ingredients — it's what industrial processing does to them. The MAHA report warns that processing alters fiber content, caloric density and digestibility in ways that can hijack hunger hormones, short-circuit satiety signals and damage the gut microbiome. 'It shouldn't be so hard to protect your family,' Ferrara said. 'They need to be more transparent with what's in the food, but also how it's processed.' Toxic situation Astoria mom Carissa Serralta has always strived to feed her kids a healthy diet — but it wasn't until one of her newborn twin daughters was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, MCAD deficiency, that she saw just how flooded grocery stores are with ultra-processed junk. The condition prevents her now 2-year-old, Mila, from properly metabolizing fats from seed oils like palm, coconut and avocado. 8 Serralta's daughter's condition has changed the whole family's eating habits. Clarissa Serralta 'Eighty to 90% of the brands you see on the shelf she can't have,' Serralta told The Post. 'It could be anywhere from pasta to tortillas to Cheez-Its.' That became a nightmare when she couldn't produce enough breast milk — and realized nearly all baby formulas on the market are loaded with seed oils. 'They say breast is best, but if you don't have milk for your baby and you have no choice but to give them formula, and the formula has bad ingredients, what do you do?' she mused. 'Your baby has to be fed.' 8 Seed oils are common in packaged and processed foods. alex9500 – Doctors told Serralta to give Mila tiny doses of seed oils to build tolerance for formula — but that led to months of relentless diarrhea. The MAHA report notes that seed oils have flooded the US food supply, overtaking animal-based fats like butter and lard in American diets over the past century. Finding safe foods has become 'a full-time job' for Serralta. Many of the items her daughter can eat aren't available locally, forcing her to shop online or cook everything from scratch. If Mila accidentally eats seed oil, it means an upset stomach, which Serralta said is painful but manageable. She is thankful it's not something more severe like a peanut or gluten allergy. 8 Mila Walpole can't eat many store-bought foods due to her seed oil intolerance. Clarissa Serralta The White House report highlights that childhood food allergies have soared 88% since 1997, while celiac disease in kids has jumped fivefold since the '80s. The diagnosis didn't just change what Mila eats — it transformed the rest of the family's eating habits. Serralta shudders at the thought of her older son previously eating ultra-processed snacks. 'It's almost a scary thought, because I was so unaware of this before I had the twins,' she said. And while she's no fan of the current administration, Serralta said she welcomes any effort to expand access to healthier foods. 'Less-processed foods have to be made available to all kids — it shouldn't just be online where people with lower incomes can't access it,' she said.
New York Post
22-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
RFK Jr. singles out 4 potential causes of childhood chronic disease in newly released report
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. singled out four potential causes of childhood chronic disease in a report released Thursday — the first step in the Trump administration's bid to reverse what it calls a health 'crisis' impacting 40% of America's kids. The report identified poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and overmedicalization as likely responsible for persistent maladies — including obesity, autism, cancer, mental health issues and allergies — warning: 'The health of American children is in crisis,' Poor diet The report cites 'ultra processed foods' (UPFs) as a potential cause of the chronic disease crisis. Kennedy Jr.'s report listed poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and overmedicalization as likely being responsible for persistent maladies in children. Getty Images While they may have been created with a good purpose in mind, the commission writes, but now 70% of the diets of American children are made up of high-caloric, low-nutrient foods. The problematic ingredients, per the report, are engineered ultra-processed grains, sugars and fats, which largely didn't exist a century ago. UPFs make up 50% of Americans' diets, the report states, while making up just 10% to 31% of the intake in countries like Portugal, Italy and France. Chemicals in the environment The report also cites chemicals in the environment as potential causes of chronic disease, especially in children who are deemed more susceptible and could be impacted in-utero. Dangerous chemicals include heavy metals, pesticides, indoor air pollutants, consumer products, microplastics, chemicals found in cleaning products and cosmetics, lead, mercury and electromagnetic radiation from technology, like mobile phones and laptops. Decline in exercise Children being more sedentary in the digital age also could lead to chronic disease through lack of exercise and limited time outside, the report found. Children are less likely to play outside, ride their bike to school, play games at recess and exercise in general, choosing to spend time on the internet instead. Supporters of the Make America Healthy Again movement attend a news conference on removing synthetic dyes from America's food supply, in Washington, DC on April 22, 2025. Nathan Posner/Shutterstock The higher access to screens — with nearly 50% of teens reporting that they are constantly online — also contributes to mental health issues as well as loneliness, lack of sleep and chronic stress. Overmedicalization One in five US children are reported to take prescription medications, including for ADHD, antidepressants, antibiotics and more. The report states that there have not been studies looking into the effects of overtreatment, but still notes it as a possible cause.
