Top food experts say blanket label ‘risks confusing people about what is healthy to eat’

• Ultra-processed foods have long been vilified for raising the risk of poor health 
• Researchers in London said ‘things aren’t so clear cut as to say all UPFs are bad’ 

Some ultra-processed foods (UPFs) might not be so bad for us after all, experts said again today.

Additive-laden foods have been vilified for decades over their supposed risks, with dozens of studies linking them to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Experts have even called for UPFs — typically anything edible that has more artificial ingredients than natural ones — to be slashed from diets.

Others have urged standard front-of-package food labels to include additional information on processing so consumers are aware.

But researchers from University College London (UCL), who compared the traffic light labels of almost 3,000 foods, said ‘things aren’t so clear cut as to say all UPFs are bad’.

In fact, adding blanket UPF labels risks ‘confusing people about what is healthy to eat’, they added.

UPFs refers to items which contain ingredients people would not usually add when they were cooking homemade food.

These additions might include chemicals, colourings, sweeteners and preservatives that extend shelf life.

Ready meals, ice cream and tomato ketchup are some of the best-loved examples of products that fall under the umbrella UPF term, now synonymous with foods offering little nutritional value because they generally have higher sugar, salt and fat content.

WHAT ARE ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS? 

Ultra-processed foods are high in added fat, sugar and salt, low in protein and fibre and contain artificial colourings, sweeteners and preservatives.

The term covers food that contains ingredients that a person wouldn’t add when cooking at home — such as chemicals, colourings and preservatives.

Ready meals, ice cream, sausages, deep-fried chicken and ketchup are some of the best-loved examples.

They are different to processed foods, which are processed to make them last longer or enhance their taste, such as cured meat, cheese and fresh bread.

Ultra-processed foods, such as sausages, cereals, biscuits and fizzy drinks, are formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives.

They contain little or no unprocessed or minimally processed foods, such as fruit, vegetables, seeds and eggs.

The foods are usually packed with sugars, oils, fats and salt, as well as  additives, such as preservatives, antioxidants and stabilisers.

Ultra-processed foods are often presented as ready-to-consume, taste good and are cheap.

Source: Open Food Facts  

They are different to processed foods, which are tinkered to make them last longer or enhance their taste, such as cured meat, cheese and fresh bread.

Assessing the nutritional content of the food items popular in Britain, the researchers found UPFs were more likely to have fewer green traffic lights and a greater number of red traffic lights.

Minimally processed foods , meanwhile, were found to have significantly lower average fat, saturated fat and energy content per 100g than other groups.

Overall more than one in five were deemed to be red for their saturated fat levels, while almost ten per cent were recorded as red for salt.

Just two in five were classed as green for saturated fat levels, with 60 per cent deemed to be green for total sugar content.

The most common ultra-processed foods with no red traffic lights included sandwiches, high fibre breakfast cereals, plant-based milk alternatives, milkshakes and white bread.

Writing in the British Journal Of Nutrition, they said ‘the jury is still out on whether processing is a useful indicator of healthy diet’.

Meanwhile, study co-author Samuel Dicken, from UCL’s Centre for Obesity Research said: ‘There is a clear overlap between the healthiness of food, front of pack labelling and the level of food processing.’

But he added: ‘A focus on updating package labelling creates a complicated message, and keeps the burden on the individual.’

Co-author Dr Adrian Brown, a lecturer in nutrition and dietetics at UCL also said: ‘Having worked with patients for nearly two decades, one of the biggest challenges for people is to identify what’s healthy and what’s not in a supermarket environment.

‘On the face of it, a low-fat yoghurt may look healthy, but it may also be high in sugar.

‘Adding that it’s also ultra-processed will only make these decisions harder.

‘At the moment, things aren’t so clear cut as to say all UPFs are bad and there is a risk of confusing people about what is healthy to eat.’

It comes after two studies, published in August, found those who consume lots of ultra-processed foods are at higher risk of suffering heart attacks and having dangerously high blood pressure.

Campaigners labelled the findings the strongest evidence yet about the harms of eating ultra-processed foods.

But other experts have argued that calls to avoid ultra-processed foods ‘risks demonising foods that are nutritionally beneficial’.

For example, flavoured yoghurts, baked beans and even baby formula are technically ultra-processed foods, as are ready meals — even if they contain fresh vegetables.

In December researchers, including several from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) — the specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organization — also suggested there was no link between an increased disease risk and ultra-processed breads, cereals and ready meals.

Results of a UCL trial to assess whether it is possible to eat healthily on a UFP-only diet compared to a minimally-processed food diet, are also expected in early 2025.

It will also explore whether providing guidance on healthy eating can change what people choose to eat.