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What counts as ultra-processed food? It’s too complicated
There is no real evidence that a pizza made at home is better than a frozen store-bought one with the same ingredients.
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Nova, the most widely used system for categorising food as ultra-processed, includes everything from doughnuts to frozen dinners, says the writer.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
F.D. Flam
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Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs for short, are suddenly the hot health concept – the new antihero in global diets. The topic is exploding both in scientific literature and on social media. There’s even an AI system to help consumers select less-processed foods while shopping.
But once you get past the important and obvious idea that junk food is harmful, the concept of ultra-processed becomes hazy and confusing.
