(ETX Daily Up) – In the UK, ultra-processed foods are a real problem in the baby department. They represent almost a third of what is sold in supermarkets. In France, the health nutrition plan recommends a 20% reduction in the consumption of these foods full of dyes and emulsifiers. While the method of calculating the nutri-score is set to change by the end of the year, we have decided to take stock of what really falls under ultra-processing in the food department.
In the United Kingdom, obesity is a major public health problem. Her Majesty’s Government has set itself the objective of reducing it by half by 2030. While this disease was indicated as an aggravating factor for Covid-19 at the time of the pandemic, a plan to fight overweight was announced in 2020 by Boris Johnson. It is estimated that among the 63% of adults with a weight above what is considered healthy, 36% are overweight and 28% are cases of obesity. As for children, one in three English children between the ages of 10 and 11 is either overweight or obese. For the little ones, ten years ago already, the National Obesity Forum warned of the significant increase in the number of babies weighing more than five kilos at birth, nicknamed at the time (very) awkwardly “sumo babies”.
Unfortunately, the issue of childhood obesity is still relevant. A report by First Steps Nutrition Trust, recently published in the Guardian, provides some answers that may explain this reality. In supermarkets, almost a third of baby food is ultra-processed products. This proportion even reaches half for snacks and cereals and three quarters when it concerns biscuits and rusks. These items are even more of a problem for families as they are sold as healthy or natural products. What’s more, 61% of the calories consumed by British children come from ultra-processed foods, recalls the British newspaper. This proportion is even higher than in the United States or Australia. The United Kingdom is however one of the most authoritarian European countries when it comes to restrictive food and drink policies. In note published at the beginning of the yearthe National Assembly and the Senate indicated that in France between 30 and 35% of the calories ingested come from ultra-processed foods.
Why are ultra-processed foods a problem?
7.94 million deaths worldwide in 2019 are attributed to overweight and poor diet. This document from the tricolor parliament sheds light on how to understand the concept of ultra-processed food. Colourant, emulsifier, modified starches… All these substances which make it possible to preserve a foodstuff longer or which imitate the sensory qualities participate in identifying a food as ultra-processed. Looking specifically at babies, the Guardian says this category includes soft drinks, sweets, cookies, snacks, fast food, “mass-produced bread and cereals”.
The problem is above all the excessive presence of salt, sugars and saturated fats, while there is less protein, vitamins and minerals in their composition. Their nutritional identity is not the only defect. The manufacturing processes are themselves a problem because they modify “the physical structure of the food matrix and have an impact through it on the degree of chewing, inducing effects on the speed of ingestion and on the feeling of satiety”, underlines this note from the French parliament.
In mid-May, the magazine 60 million consumers pointed the finger at this category of food by giving concrete names of the products concerned. We are talking about cordon bleu, low-fat yogurts, breaded fish or even, more surprisingly, pan-fried cooked vegetables.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to avoid them when shopping since they represent more than two out of three products in the supermarket. According to the magazine, a low price, the mention “reduced in sugars”, barbaric (scientific) names in the list of ingredients or the presence of more than five elements in the recipe are markers to identify a food as ultra-processed. .