Read any mysteries lately? You can readily find a slew of them on grocery-store shelves. Ingredients that you never would find by themselves in your pantry or refrigerator fill package labels. Hard to spell, pronounce, and define, additives constitute the lifeblood of manufacturers using them to make edible products appetizing (even addictive!) and able to withstand storage time before and after purchase.
Were Agatha Christie alive, one can imagine her penning a novel titled “Murder by Ultra-Processed Foods.” Indeed, the independent advisory committee that will make recommendations for the 2025 update of U.S. dietary guidelines has been reviewing scientific evidence revealing health risks associated with ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
“Foods get additives that cause a lot of side effects,” says Rachel Millard, director of Desert Care Network’s Center for Weight Management. “We see [resultant] conditions like inflammation, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.” The nurse practitioner notes phosphate additives are especially of concern.
As reported in 2018 by Purdue University nutrition science researchers, an excess intake of phosphorus through food additives reduces bone mass. And, particularly in senior years, “bone health is extremely important,” Millard says. “Ultra-processed foods can definitely contribute to faster aging.”
UPFs raise concern because an estimated 60 percent of calories consumed by adults (70 percent by teens and children) in the United States come from foods that have undergone an industrial process that includes additives to increase packaged goods’ shelf life, appearance (food coloring), texture (emulsifiers and thickeners), and taste (fat, starch, salt, and sugar or artificial sweetener). Taste components make these foods highly rewarding, which in turn can make them addictive.
illustration by kotryna zukauskaite
Then you have the non-taste components. Consider, for example, the thickener/stabilizer xanthan gum. Do you really want to ingest an agent also used in wallpaper glue, tile grout, and toilet bowl cleaners — despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “generally recognizes” it as “safe”? To that point, consider that brominated vegetable oil (BVO) was categorized as safe in 1970 when it became a regulated emulsifier, but in November 2023, BVO was targeted for regulatory revocation. That was a little more than one month after California became the first state to pass legislation banning the use of BVO — as well as potassium bromate, propylparaben, and red dye 3. (The ban goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, giving manufacturers time to adjust their recipes.)
In February of this year, The BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) published the results of an umbrella analysis based on scientific studies from 2009 to June 2023, covering almost 9.9 million participants. That review found direct associations between ultra-processed foods and higher risks of adverse health outcomes in cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, metabolic, and mental health, as well as cancer and mortality.
Another meta-analysis, published by Nutrients in 2022, linked UPF diets with greater risk of anxiety and depression (48 and 44 percent, respectively). Furthermore, according to a National Geographic article in February, a 2022 study in the United Kingdom found that the risk of dementia increased 25 percent for every 10 percent increase in participants’ consumption of UPFs.
One strategy for ridding your diet of these unhealthy products is as simple as reading ingredient lists on food packages when you shop.
“If you see more than 10 or 15 ingredients, chances are it is ultra-processed,” warns Desert Care Network dietician Belinda Figueroa. She also suggests looking at the “best used by” date. “UPFs are going to have a further-out date. A freshly baked bread may have a couple of days [recommended consumption] versus a loaf with an expiration date of two months.” (You can store fresh bread in the freezer and take out slices as needed.)
In addition to being addictive through an abundance of fat, sugar, and salt, UPFs are highly attractive because consumers like the convenience of ready-made meals and are lured by marketing tactics that emphasize their taste.
“Plan out your meals and have backups for busy days,” Millard recommends. “Backups” could be pre-chopped vegetables that cut preparation time down or freezing leftovers that require nothing more than thawing and heating. There also are convenience foods, including canned and frozen items that are minimally processed. Again, the trick is to read ingredients lists on the packaging.
challenge
Read labels on packaged goods before you toss them into your shopping cart.
