Ultra-processed foods like chicken nuggets, sugary breakfast cereals, and sodas aren't completely bad.
They are often inexpensive, easy to prepare, and last long on the shelf.
It has also been scientifically developed to be something that the human brain finds delicious.
However, they often contain high levels of fat, salt and sugar, meaning long-term consumption poses significant health risks.
Experts say Australians Cost of living pressures have put healthier options out of reach for many, and we have now reached a point where we rely on ultra-processed foods.
Amanda Lee, from the University of Queensland's School of Public Health, said the average Australian family of four spends 61 per cent of their food budget on unhealthy food and drink.
“I think that's really thought-provoking,” Professor Lee says.
“It's the junk food industry that profits from the current system that is making people sick.”
So how did we get here? And is it possible to turn back the clock?
The beginning of food preservation
When food processing first began in the early 20th century, the industry was completely unregulated, said Kevin Hall of the National Institutes of Health.
He said companies were experimenting with adding chemicals to make products last longer, sometimes with dangerous consequences.
“In fact, that was one of the reasons the Food and Drug Administration was established in the United States. [in 1906]Because of all the contaminants that are in the food,” Dr. Hall told ABC RN's Reavision.
“There was a really big wave of acute food poisoning caused by manufacturers trying to give people cheap food that was preserved as much as possible.
“Now we have similar problems. [processed foods] making people chronically ill [with] Diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases. ”
The turning point in food processing was World War II. Resources were poured into finding ways to create food that could be stored for months and easily transported to feed thousands of soldiers overseas.
As a result, the United States now offers what culinary historian Laura Shapiro describes as a “trove of canned meats,” including “the immortal luncheon meat known as Spam.”
“We had a dinner of canned ham and sweet potatoes, canned pork with applesauce, canned bacon, dried potatoes, and powdered orange juice,” Shapiro said.
Redefining “cooking”
But after the war, food companies faced difficult challenges, Shapiro said. The idea was to convince people that processed foods were not only delicious but also an acceptable substitute for meals prepared from scratch.
”[It] It was a very, very big event. [to change] “I researched the psychology of cooking and redefined the word 'cooking' to mean opening a box,” she says.
“It went against everything people knew.”
Then fast food also appeared.
In the 1950s, McDonald's quickly became popular in the United States, and its first Australian store opened in Sydney in 1971.
Shapiro says it's a fast food giant. It changed the cultural concept of what food should be.
“Technically, it was a meal: a hamburger and fries,” she says.
“But there was nothing around it that could make it a meal. You might not even have sat down at the table and eaten it.”
The microwave oven, which became a common household appliance in both the United States and Australia in the 1980s, also provided a boost for processed foods.
“The food industry quickly produced hundreds of millions of products with the microwave in mind,” Ms. Shapiro says.
“Everything on Earth is made in microwavable, single-serve forms.”
Definition of “ultra-processed food”
In the late 2000s, the processed food industry took a big hit.
The NOVA food classification system was developed by a group of researchers led by Carlos Monteiro at the University of São Paulo in Brazil.
This meant that for the first time, foods were classified based on their level of processing rather than their nutrient profile. There was also a separate category called “ultra-processed foods.''
Marion Nestle, an American molecular biologist and nutritionist, says ultra-processed foods are essentially those that cannot be made at home.
For example, consider products made from corn.
“Corn on the cob is unprocessed, canned corn is processed, and Doritos chips are ultra-processed,” Nestle says.
“You can't make that. There are no flavors, no additives, no machines.”
Once the definition was established, research was conducted on the effects of eating ultra-processed foods.
In 2019, Dr. Hall led the first randomized trial in 20 healthy adults.
All participants were given two nutritionally matched diets, one consisting of ultra-processed foods and the other consisting of minimally processed foods.
Dr. Hall said researchers found that people were eating more ultra-processed foods, consuming about 500 more calories per day.
The exact reason for this is unknown. But the concentration and combination of fat, sugar, carbohydrates and salt found in ultra-processed foods makes it difficult to scientifically stop eating them, says neuroscientist and obesity researcher Stephan Guynet. says.
“These are properties that tend to trigger the release of dopamine in the brain, a chemical involved in learning and motivation, including food,” says Dr. Guynet, who is also the author of The Hungry Brain.
Where are we now?
Today we know that ultra-processed foods don't fit into most diets.
However, Professor Lee said ultra-processed and “discretionary” or junk food and drink was gradually becoming a larger part of Australians' overall diets.
“But while people define junk food, whether it's ultra-processed foods or discretionary foods, for most Australians there is no room for these foods in a sedentary lifestyle. We know that there are very few.
“We should all be eating more healthy options to protect our bodies from heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diet-related conditions.”
But Phil Baker, from Deakin University's School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, says getting people to change their diets is difficult, especially in the current cost of living crisis.
He said Australia had become reliant on ultra-processed foods, especially among the lowest socio-economic groups, because it was cheaper to buy instant noodles, for example, than fresh fruit, vegetables and meat.
“It is very difficult for us to say that we should regulate and tax food that is so cheap. [when] So many people rely on them just to feed themselves [and] I’m supporting my family,” says Dr. Baker.
New technology improves access
It is important to note that not all food processing is inherently harmful. New technologies are emerging that extend the shelf life of foods without depleting them of nutrients.
Warren Hunt and his team at Charles Darwin University are using heating and drying techniques to grow fruit, for distribution to those most dependent on unhealthy food: Australia's remote Indigenous communities. Researching methods for processing meat and vegetables.
“We're not reinventing canned corned beef or canned Spam. We're looking at new technologies that allow us to produce clean-label, high-quality products,” says Northern Australia Food Innovation Project. Dr. Hunt, the leader of .
“In other words, you don't necessarily need to add salt or other preservatives.
Dr Hunt hopes to secure funding for experiments once a distribution facility is established in the Northern Territory, which will help put healthier options on shelves for people who often don't have reliable access to refrigeration or cooking facilities. states that it will be possible to do so.
“We believe there is a huge opportunity there from a health and well-being and utility perspective.”
He says all Australians should have reliable access to healthy food, regardless of their postcode or income.
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