ultra-processed food

Ultra-processed food (UPF) is an industrially formulated edible substance derived from natural food or synthesized from other organic compounds. The resulting products are designed to be highly profitable, convenient, and hyperpalatable, often through food additives such as preservatives, colourings, and flavourings. The state of research into ultra-processed foods and their effects is evolving rapidly as of 2023. Epidemiological data suggest that consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with higher risks of certain diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain types of cancer. Researchers also present ultra-processing as a facet of environmental degradation caused by the food industry. Definitions Concerns around food processing have existed since at least the Industrial Revolution. Many critics identified 'processed food' as problematic, and movements such as raw foodism attempted to eschew food processing entirely, but since even basic cookery results in processed food, this concept failed in itself to influence public policy surrounding the epidemiology of obesity. Michael Pollan's influential book The Omnivore's Dilemma referred to highly processed industrial food as 'edible food-like substances'. Carlos Augusto Monteiro cited Pollan as an influence in coining the term 'ultra-processed food' in a 2009 commentary. Monteiro's team developed the Nova classification for grouping unprocessed and processed foods beginning in 2010, whose definition of ultra-processing has become most widely accepted and has gradually become more refined through successive publications. The identification of ultra-processed foods, as well as the category itself, is a subject of debate among nutrition and public health scientists, and other definitions have been proposed.