- We're told that we should cut down
on eating processed foods for our health,
but what is a processed food?
I've often heard it said that
if it comes in some sort of packaging
it is a processed food,
but is everything that comes
in a packet really that bad?
Let's find out.
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So what exactly are processed foods?
Put very simply, a processed food
is one that has been altered
from its original form,
but that's pretty vague as a definition to be honest.
And it's quite obvious that some products
are processed significantly more than others.
Take this packet of skinless and boneless chicken thighs.
It's been processed to a certain degree,
but clearly it's a very different level of processing
to these chicken nuggets.
Thankfully, we can break things down
to help us cut through this a bit more.
We can classify food by how much it's been processed.
So you can have minimally processed foods
like this pork chop,
medium processed foods that have been through
more processing like these high quality pork sausages,
and then you can have ultra processed foods,
that have been through more extreme mechanical
and chemical processes like this smiley faced ham.
So let's have a look at a bit more detail
at the different categories of food processing.
Firstly, we have minimally or unprocessed foods.
Take this packet of carrot batons.
The carrots have been peeled, cleaned, and chopped,
and this fresh fish fillet,
it's been cut and cleaned
and is ready for cooking,
but there's little change from the original ingredient
and most of the nutritional goodness is maintained.
Minimal processing techniques
usually include refrigeration and freezing,
pretty straightforward really.
This preserves the ingredients,
keeps foods fresh and retains their nutrients.
Then there is pasteurization,
liquids like milk or juice are heated
to high temperatures to destroy microorganisms.
And finally, fermentation where natural sugars
in foods are broken down by various microorganisms.
This changes the flavor and texture
of the ingredients and preserves nutrients,
kimchi, sauerkraut, some yogurts
are example of fermented foods.
And so with these minimally processed foods,
yes, they do come in packaging,
but it's probably the packaging itself
and the plastic in that
that is the most harmful part of these processed foods.
Next, we have the medium processed foods.
Foods in the medium category undergo more changes.
However, their original ingredients
are still basically recognizable.
Food processing techniques
can include preserving with food additives
where substances are added to foods to keep them fresh
or to enhance their color, flavor or texture.
Some additive have been used for centuries
like salt, vinegar, smoke, and sugar.
These were used to create longer lasting foods
such as bacon and various other forms of cured meats.
But more recently, we've been adding food colorings
like tartrazine or cochineal
or flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate.
Unfortunately, some additives are linked
to negative health consequences and are best avoided.
Next, we have high pressure processing
which is where foods are put under very high pressure
to eliminate microorganisms and enzymes.
This process is used for foods such as guacamole,
salads and dips, fruit juice and smoothies.
And then we have milling and grinding.
Grains need to be processed
to make them easier to eat and digest.
Milling separates the flowery edible endosperm
from the branny outer coverings.
Without this additional processing,
humans simply wouldn't be able to digest most grains.
Milling wheat is a process that has developed
over the years from being done by hand,
with windmills, now into massive factories.
Flour is a huge industry.
Finally, we have canning and blanching.
Blanching is where foods like tomatoes or peas
are scolded in boiling water
or steamed for a short time,
usually before canning and freezing.
And this is to enhance the flavor
and extend the life of the food.
So in summary, foods in this medium processed category
have been altered.
They have some advantages as they are convenient,
particularly for storage,
but the processing of some of these foods
can cause a loss of nutrients,
particularly water soluble vitamins.
There are also concerns around some
of the chemicals we add into these foods.
Now let's have a look at ultra processed foods.
Think of the foods in this category
as modern food fakery.
They no longer represent the original ingredients
and have lost their natural nutritional profile.
One food classification system
defines ultra processed foods as,
bear with me on this one,
"Industrial formulations generated
"through compounds extracted, derived,
"or synthesized from foods
"or food containing substrates.
"Containing five or more ingredients
"and artificial additives with no whole food components".
Now that is quite a mouthful.
Put in simple language,
ultra processed foods are typically made up
of five or more ingredients,
often containing many added chemical ingredients
like preservatives, sweeteners, and color enhancers.
They're made using mechanical industrial processes
that can't be undertaken at home.
Things like extrusion, high-pressure heating,
emulsifying, and molding to name just a few.
And if you don't know what these processes are,
that's kind of the point.
They're not normal food techniques.
These techniques allow food products to be made
to meet specific recipe formulations on a vast scale.
In addition to this,
they're usually high in refined carbohydrate,
poor quality fats from refined inflammatory seed oils,
and are of minimal nutritional value.
Let's have a look at some examples
of ultra processed foods.
As you would expect,
we've got crisps or chips,
chocolate bars, ice creams, pizza,
soft drinks, ready meals, instant noodles.
They all fall into this category,
but many of our everyday family staples are too.
Take bread for example,
your average supermarket sliced loaf
is made from complex ingredients and processes
not used in kitchens,
including emulsifiers, preservatives, and colorings.
So it's an ultra processed food.
Compare that to the bread that your grandparents
would've got from the local bakery 50 years ago.
Bread made from simple ingredients
such as flour, water, salt, and yeast
made using a traditional technique on a small scale
was inherently far less processed loaf.
What about breakfast cereals?
How do they achieve the final breakfast cereal shapes,
textures, colors, and coatings
that have become all so familiar?
Crushing grains, milling and stewing
in a large pressure cooker vat
with sugar or syrups, flavorings,
colorings, sweeteners are mixed into the pulpy mass
before drying on massive conveyor belts.
Next they're shaped, shredded,
flaked, puffed, or toasted
to produce the desired product shape and texture.
And that's before being spray coated
or mixed with additional ingredients like chocolate,
honey, sugar, malt, dried fruits,
marshmallows, nuts, food colorings, and preservatives.
And then they're put into boxes
with cartoon characters on
and aggressively marketed to children.
Because, and please, please, please don't forget this,
breakfast is the most important meal of the day, children.
So why processed foods at all?
Humans have been processing foods for millennia.
This was essential to survive food shortages,
to colonize and develop civilizations
in very different habitats
as our ancient ancestors spread out across the world.
They would roast, grind,
and soak foods to make them edible,
preserve foods by smoking, sun-drying all with salt.
So clearly there are some major advantages
of processing foods that we really want to keep.
We process foods to make them more convenient,
to preserve freshness, extend their life,
and to make food more appetizing.
All good reasons,
but we've taken things oh so much further
than our ancestors ever did.
So let's just look at this from a different perspective.
What are the benefits to the food industry?
And I can summarize this pretty quickly,
is to maximize their profit.
Food products made from lower cost ingredients
at scale are cheaper to manufacture
and generate larger profits.
Producing food in factories with generic ingredients
and processes also helps to achieve recipe consistency
and helps extend the product shelf-life.
Longer lasting, easier to transport and store,
again, all means a boost to profits.
Finally, let's consider
the convenience aspects of these foods.
Processing has literally changed
our whole relationship with food.
Contrary to popular belief,
modern processed food products took off really slowly
when first introduced in the 1950s,
they were expensive and consumers
also needed a whole series
of brand new kitchen appliances to make use of them.
Take freezers and microwaves for example,
these gadgets weren't commonplace
in the home at the time.
So advertisers went to work.
They gave the new foods an aura
of sophistication and class
suggesting that the microwave dinners
and instant drinks were something to aspire to
to show off your prosperity.
Adverts in magazines and on television emphasize
the benefits of these modern, time saving new foods.
Products were pitched as the best option
for taking care of your family,
keeping everyone in your home, healthy and happy.
But more than that,
they promised a ticket to freedom
from kitchen drudgery for women.
The mammoth marketing and advertising efforts
ultimately resulted in the immersion
of convenience foods in the market,
and paved the way to our changed food culture
and family dynamic as women were able to enter education
and the workforce like never before.
So it's clear that society has enjoyed great benefits
from embracing food convenience,
and we have embraced convenience foods wholeheartedly,
to the point that they are now
a major component of our everyday diets.
This has produced a big change
to the way we shop, prepare and eat meals.
However, the changes have also been a significant factor
in our health and obesity epidemics.
So should we worry about processed foods?
Well, yes, eating foods like these
is linked to serious diseases and health conditions.
More and more of us are on track
to suffer from long-term health conditions
linked to our lifestyle.
Unhealthy diets based around ultra processed foods
are one of, if not the leading contribution
to these long-term diseases.
Whilst other factors like sedentary lifestyles,
smoking, drinking, and poverty
are part of the problem,
the food we eat is the major culprit.
We're eating our way into ill health.
Preventable health conditions
such as cancers, diabetes, heart disease,
place a major financial burden on our health sectors,
70% of health spending in England alone.
More importantly, they take an enormous toll
on our quality of life.
I could go on for some time
about the dangers of eating ultra processed foods,
but I'm not going to because we are planning more videos
on this topic in the near future.
But hopefully you've now got a better idea
about the different levels of processing food,
and hopefully understand that everything that comes
in a packet isn't necessarily bad.
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Thanks for watching.