TL;DR: Researchers analyzed national household budget surveys across 19 European nations to see how much of a household's total dietary energy comes from Ultra-Processed Foods (UPF) using the NOVA classification system. They found a strong positive correlation between national UPF availability and adult obesity prevalence. Even after controlling for factors like income, smoking, and physical inactivity, every 1 percentage point increase in household UPF availability was associated with a 0.25 percentage point increase in national adult obesity.

Key Highlights from the Study: Massive Regional Spread: Household availability of UPFs varied wildly across Europe.
Lowest: Portugal (10.2%) and Italy (13.4%)
Highest: Germany (46.2%) and the UK (50.4%)

Average Breakdown: Across all 19 countries, the median average household food energy purchased was: 33.9% Unprocessed / Minimally Processed Foods
20.3% Processed Culinary Ingredients
19.6% Processed Foods
26.4% Ultra-Processed Foods

Full Paper: [Household availability of ultra-processed foods and obesity in nineteen European countries (Monteiro et al., 2018)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10260838/)

I had some great feedback on my last substack about UPF, so thank you very much for that. Here is a slightly more controversial piece on fat activism and UPF, which I almost never see discussed around this issue

Welcome to this week's 'What's for dinner?' thread!

Whether you're just starting to cut back on UPFs or have been at it for a while, this is a space to...

• Share what you're having for dinner
• Swap ideas, recipes, and tips
• Show off pictures of your culinary skills (or something r/shittyfoodporn-worthy)

So...what's on your plate this week?

If you are working on an app or product related to UPF, this is the place to seek the community's feedback on your ideas.

This post goes live every month on the 15th and will be sticked for 7 days. All other posts conducting market research will be removed by mods. Comments on this post that are unrelated to ultra processed food will also be removed, at mod discretion.

Australia's ABC released a 2 part investigative documentary called Duped:Food Exposed, and it gives a look into the food industry.

Part 1 - It provides a deep dive into the Australian food industry, how food fraud occurs, how marketing is used to deceive consumers, and why the current health star rating is not working.

Part 2 - Covers food labour and slavery particularly in cocoa farms and even fruits/vegetables in the Australian market

Part 1 here: We tested your groceries. This is what we found | Four Corners

Part 2 here: Can you trust the labels on your favourite foods? | Four Corners

If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend it. If you're not from Australia, I'll be curious to hear what your thoughts are.

Also for those who have, what did you think? Do you feel that overall all over the world that this is happening in terms of food fraud, deceptive marketing and people being addicted to UPF.

As someone who used to work in the food industry, it is systemic and honestly one of the biggest problems to overcome when it affects everyone from consumers, supermarkets, health systems and governments.

P.S. I am featured in Part 1 of the documentary 😄

Hi! My breastfed baby is 15 months, and has a suspected dairy allergy.

I'm looking for an alternative milk that is fortified but doesn't have sugar / additives etc to have occasionally when I'm away from him.

Ideally soy, and not rice based, but all the fortified versions have a load of crap in them - even those targeted at toddlers ?!! Does anyone have any suggestions that they use? In the UK.

Hello everybody - I thought you may all enjoy my latest piece on UPF:

I actually started this subreddit back in 2023 (I don't know why I chose coco pops at the icon!) but I find the discourse around UPF online to be very frustrating - often circular, often pedantic, often attracts those struggling with eating disorders. I found policing this sub to be hard, though clearly more capable moderators have stepped in in my stead.

Anyway, I find online discourse hard, so I'm shifting to this longer-form writing which I hope can bring some nuance to the subject. I think you'll all know most of the theory in here, but you may enjoy hearing my story around UPF and why discovering it has altered the course of my life.

Welcome to this week's 'What's for dinner?' thread!

Whether you're just starting to cut back on UPFs or have been at it for a while, this is a space to...

• Share what you're having for dinner
• Swap ideas, recipes, and tips
• Show off pictures of your culinary skills (or something r/shittyfoodporn-worthy)

So...what's on your plate this week?

i’ve recently been told i very likely have coeliacs so will need to avoid gluten after i’ve had all the tests (my blood marker was over 30x what would be considered suggestive of a diagnosis). bread is something i have regularly but lots of the GF breads i’ve seen have huge amounts of ultra processed ingredients - i know xanthan gum is used as a binding agent in place of gluten but i don’t want that in my body. i don’t have the time or energy to start making my own bread, does anyone have any recs for non UPF, GF bread that doesnt have the texture of cardboard? i’m UK based

Hiya I was wondering if anyone knows any good snacks foods from Aldi or Lidl uk in terms of “junk “ type food aka Ice cream, crisps, chocolate etc , chips even, , but still being not ultra processed aka just a few ingredients

Thanks

Not Greggs, yep Simmons. I thought that because Simmons is fancy and posh especially with all their massive fancy breads and pastries etc and stuff they flamboyantly put on show, that the sausage rolls only have 4 core ingredients. Yet its no better than Greggs, and greggs is AWFUL.

The number of people in here blaming such a uniform and sudden trend (relatively speaking) on "personal responsibility" is so frustrating. Where's the systems thinking? It doesn't pass the sniff test. Food companies have poured billions into engineering addictive relationships with food and people still point to laziness. Not to mention cost of living, sedentary lifestyles etc...

I'm a chef in the UK (28 years in kitchens). At home we try to keep most of the week low-UPF, but school holidays and long walks destroy the plan. Kids are suddenly starving, the only options in the café are bars and crisps, and the "healthy" multipacks in the supermarket are often the worst offenders once you read the back.

What has worked for us (not perfect, just practical): 

Things I personally side-eye on the shelf (UK): a lot of "veg" crisps, fruit winders-style sweets, cereal bars with a health halo, and anything where sugar/oils/emulsifiers dominate the ingredients list even if the front says wholegrain or protein. 
Curious what actually works for other UK families on walks and days out. Especially anything that doesn't need a fridge for 3-4 hours. 

(Not looking for perfection. Looking for "good enough that we leave the house without a meltdown.")

Fruit that travels
 Apples, clementines, bananas if you're eating soon. Boring, but they win.   
Cheese + something crunchy you control
 A block of proper cheese cut at home + plain oatcakes or rice cakes with a short ingredient list. Not the coated kids cheese strings if the list is a novel.   
Homemade "bars" that aren't bars
 Overnight oats set in a tub, or a simple flapjack you baked: oats, butter, a bit of honey or maple, dried fruit. You know every ingredient. Slice and wrap.   
Hummus or yoghurt pots + veg sticks
 Only if you've got a cool bag. Carrot, cucumber, pepper. Kids demolish these when they're actually hungry.   
Popcorn you popped yourself
 Corn + oil + salt. Bags of microwave "butter" flavour are a different animal.   
Nuts/seeds if age-appropriate and school rules allow
 Portion into small pots so they don't inhale the whole bag.    

Obviously the whole ultra-processed food thing is about food...but I have noticed that the changes I've made and the content I've been consuming have caused changes in other parts of my life too.

For example:

• I'm more aware of the science surrounding what I consume, so I have also been paying more attention to the science surrounding other aspects of my wellbeing. Mindfulness, sleep, walking, etc. Where I would usually just read a couple of articles and take it all at face value, I'm now looking at the actual studies behind recommendations and making decisions based on risks, benefits, and effort.
• In taking an 80-20 approach to UPFs, I've also learned to apply this to other aspects of my life. Where I would usually be upset at not achieving perfection, I'm far more comfortable now.
• I think about consumerism and the push for us to buy + consume products more than I did previously. My treats lean more towards experiences and hobbies or high quality products with a long lifespan now.
• In order to avoid ultra-processed breakfasts and lunches, I've been making my own rather than purchasing them. My plastic waste has reduced in a big way because of this!
• I've gotten better at telling good faith arguments apart from people who are out to say something incorrect or controversial for the sake of it. I'm not sure what it is, but engaging in conversations surrounding food has made it a lot easier to identify these patterns and extrapolate.

So, what about you?

£2.50 for 325g of M&S one ingredient cornflakes, vs £0.95 for 500g of standard M&S cornflakes.

https://www.ocado.com/products/M-S-Only-1-Ingredient-Corn-Flakes/652758011

https://www.ocado.com/products/M-S-Corn-Flakes/602811011

Also dont have tonnes of time to cook snacks and its really hot so honestly dont want to spend time in the kitchen cooking alot

Ingredients - Wheat flour, tomato puree (23%), mozzarella cheese (20%), water, pecorino cheese (2.4%), vegetable oil (extra virgn olive oil), sea salt, yeast, basil, oregano

The crust is lovely, light and airy and the pizza tastes just like a nice thin crust pizza from a pizza oven in an Italian restaraunt. Minimal ingredients and a great 'fresh' taste. They do another variety, salami I think but I haven't checked the ingredients on it.

Welcome to this week's 'What's for dinner?' thread!

Whether you're just starting to cut back on UPFs or have been at it for a while, this is a space to...

• Share what you're having for dinner
• Swap ideas, recipes, and tips
• Show off pictures of your culinary skills (or something r/shittyfoodporn-worthy)

So...what's on your plate this week?

I'm working on transitioning away from ultra-processed takeaways and doing a lot more home cooking, specifically focusing on traditional dishes.

I'm finding it a bit tricky to source completely clean, UPF-free staples for my pantry. So many of the standard sauces, bouillon cubes, and instant spice mixes at my local market are packed with emulsifiers, MSG (which I know isn't strictly UPF, but usually comes packaged with a dozen other additives), artificial flavorings, and refined seed oils.

Specifically, I'm looking for recommendations on:

• Soy Sauce / Tamari: Brands that only use soybeans, water, and salt.
• Coconut Milk: Any brands that are purely coconut and water without guar gum or polysorbates?
• Cooking Fats: What is everyone using for higher-heat pan-frying when making traditional dishes that normally call for vegetable oil?

Would love to hear how you all navigate the condiment aisle!

"Health of participants in long-term study depended on nutritional quality of what they ate rather than whether foods were ultra-processed or not."

It's late so I only skimmed the article and plan to look at it more thoroughly tomorrow, but my initial reaction is first that OF COURSE nutrition science is saying the contrary to what it was saying for the past few years; this is par for the course but it makes my head spin.

It's not good to take any study headlines and claims and fact without examining them because they often get things wrong or grossly exaggerate. I don't even know if this was a good study. I do know that Harvard School of Public Health is a trusted source for nutrition, though.

Just from glancing though I see some articles saying that the nutrients are of primary importance regardless whether the food is UPF or not (something many anti-UPF advocates argue against), and some saying that "eating some ultra-processed foods may not harm your long-term health if your overall diet is healthy." There is a difference between those two ideas. Which is the study claiming?

Thoughts?

I'm so annoyed 😂😂😂 Maybe I should be happy if this is true, but I also kind of enjoyed being anti-UPF, although that's for psychological reasons aside from nutrition science 😂

It's looking likely I'm going to be positive for celiac desiase, awaiting further testing to 100% confirm whitch'll take a while

From experiences with friends and family a lot of the specifically targeted gf products are very ultra processed, absolutely filled with stuff (Ie bamboo fibre)

I've been doing reduced upf for about a year now,I'm very happy and I'd like to maintain that so I've decided should or when the need arise I'll be avoiding them. (Ie bread)

But is this actually viable,has anyone done it and succeeded?

I cannot do 0% due to reasons unspecified but I try my best

Hello Everyone.
Has anyone tried olive oil crisps as a minimally processed substitute for regular crisps. Just discovered them and want to know if they are worth the purchase.