Ever wondered what lurks behind the bright packaging and enticing flavours lining the supermarket aisles? Those tempting treats lining the aisles are often ultra-processed foods. Behind their sugary smiles and convenient charm lurks a secret world of ingredients and additives that might not be so friendly to your health.
Filling our shopping lists and stomachs, ultra-processed foods are food products that have undergone several stages of processing and contain many ingredients. They are typically ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat, designed for convenience, and often have a long shelf life due to the addition of preservatives.
‘It is bad for the body’
Jabulani Sello from Johannesburg believes that limiting ultra-processed foods can give people a chance to eat healthier, especially when looking at the obesity cases in South Africa and illnesses that occur as a result of obesity.
“Processed foods have too many unhealthy carbs and sugar, which is bad for the human body,” he says.
“I try to avoid ultra-processed foods to stay healthier and control both my cholesterol and unhealthy carbohydrate intake, as I’ve experienced unhealthy weight gain from them that I had to work hard to control.”
Jabulani Sello
Sihle Makhanya from Durban defines ultra-processed food as food that has been altered in some way during preparation and thus tries to shy away from it.
“I believe that processed foods are not only generally bad for my health and lack nutritional value for a balanced diet; consuming them also often leads to eating more than the recommended amounts of sugar, salt, and fat, and some processed foods have chemicals added to them, so I always try to steer clear of them,” he says.
“Not all processed foods are bad for you. Some foods need processing to be safe. It’s always a good idea to be conscious of the foods we consume.”
Sihle Makhanya
“Make it a habit to read the food labels of the foods you buy at the grocery store, as you will be astonished to find added sugar and salt in the foods that are on the shelves that we buy every day.”
To understand what ultra-processed food is, dietitian Kholeka Vilikazi, working in Newcastle Kwazulu-Natal, says the first step is to break up the word. “First, we have ultra, which means beyond or extreme, and then we have food processing, which is when food undergoes certain steps before it’s consumed.
“This could be several processes, such as preserving, cooking, and chopping, as well as adding certain ingredients to improve texture, taste, and/or shelf life,” she explains.
“So ultra-processed foods are foods that have been through an extensive number of processes that involve preservatives, colourants, and artificial flavours, making them high in sugar, energy, and fat and low in essential nutrients that we need to keep our bodies healthy.”
Dietitian Kholeka Vilikazi
“These foods are easy to come by and are usually also very affordable, yet they have no benefit to our overall health.”
Vilakazi further highlights the differences between unprocessed, processed, and ultra-processed foods and which can be considered healthy.
Unprocessed vs processed vs ultra-processed: Understanding the difference
“Unprocessed foods are foods that are in their natural state or have undergone minimal processing. These foods are usually staples in the diet and have great health benefits without processing. Such as fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, and nuts,” she says.
“Processed foods are foods that have been altered in some way from their natural state, but not to the extent of ultra-processed foods. These processes are usually minimal and can also be done at home, such as canning, tinning, pickling, freezing, etc.
“Ultra-processed foods undergo extensive processing, and examples include packaged snacks, sugary drinks, fast food, and ready-to-eat meals.”
Dietitian Kholeka Vilikazi
She warns that consuming ultra-processed foods can potentially damage our health in the long run by making us susceptible to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which we get from unhealthy lifestyles that include foods high in unhealthy fats, sugar, and salt. These diseases include and are not limited to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer.
“Snacking on ultra-processed food as a treat to provide you with a balanced meal now and then maybe termed healthy, but in the long run, they don’t do anything for you but increase your risks of NCDs.”
“Some ultra-processed foods may be fortified with vitamins and minerals to improve their nutritional profile, making a small dent in making our diets healthier and fulfilling our nutritional needs, but they rarely do just that. This is why it’s much better to prioritise minimally processed food to achieve better overall health,” she advises.
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