Ultra processed foods, do you eat them, avoid them, or limit them?

I noticed a story on the BBC recently it said ...
"UPFs tend to contain more than five ingredients, which are not usually found in home cooking, such as additives, sweeteners and chemicals to improve the food's texture or appearance."
It also said "There is no one definition that everyone agrees on, but the NOVA classification is often used"

The nova link has a lot of info, but just taking a super quick look we have this ...
Group 1 Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
Group 2 Processed culinary ingredients
Group 3 Processed foods
Group 4 Ultra-processed food and drink products
"Ingredients only found in ultra-processed products include substances not commonly used in culinary preparations, and additives whose purpose is to imitate sensory qualities of group 1 foods or of culinary preparations of these foods, or to disguise undesirable sensory qualities of the final product."

I've been specifically avoiding foods with a lot of additives for almost 1.5 years now. I tend to pick up a product, and if the ingredients read like a chemistry experiment it is immediately rejected :stop:
 
I noticed a story on the BBC recently it said ...
"UPFs tend to contain more than five ingredients, which are not usually found in home cooking, such as additives, sweeteners and chemicals to improve the food's texture or appearance."
It also said "There is no one definition that everyone agrees on, but the NOVA classification is often used"

The nova link has a lot of info, but just taking a super quick look we have this ...
Group 1 Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
Group 2 Processed culinary ingredients
Group 3 Processed foods
Group 4 Ultra-processed food and drink products
"Ingredients only found in ultra-processed products include substances not commonly used in culinary preparations, and additives whose purpose is to imitate sensory qualities of group 1 foods or of culinary preparations of these foods, or to disguise undesirable sensory qualities of the final product."

I've been specifically avoiding foods with a lot of additives for almost 1.5 years now. I tend to pick up a product, and if the ingredients read like a chemistry experiment it is immediately rejected :stop:
Thing is ..
I know a lot of people look at things like E- numbers and decide the product is bad.
But when paprika powder is used for colouring, it has an E number.
Same for turmeric
It's not easy to say.
Having said that, I mainy cook at home, hardly use canned or tinned food, just because of availability (and taste).

So if I see something I like, I'll buy it.
Everything in moderation ( if I could only live by what I just said ;) )
 
I used to eat *lots* of processed meats like Spam, hotdogs, and packaged sausages. Price wise those are moving out of my realm and I'm making do with cuts that you, at least here, don't see in a typical grocery. I'm buying necks, tails, feet, backs, and the sausages are made in the back w/out any chemicals. These parts have less protein per unit mass than say a steak but I'm older and can suffice the protein needs with beans and legumes. Bonus to eating those parts is the collagen! After forty-seven years in the desert working outside my skin needs it.
 
Thing is ..
I know a lot of people look at things like E- numbers and decide the product is bad.
But when paprika powder is used for colouring, it has an E number.
Same for turmeric
It's not easy to say.
Having said that, I mainy cook at home, hardly use canned or tinned food, just because of availability (and taste).

So if I see something I like, I'll buy it.
Everything in moderation ( if I could only live by what I just said ;) )
agreed, but when chemical names are written in full and I know it's not a simple ingredient (eg sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate, or dicalcium phosphate as a raising agent in baked products) that's when I question whether I want it.

And yes, very not straightforward.
All the variations of phosphates also have E numbers, and I'm trying to avoid added phosphates (particularly if a food ingredient is unlikely to be a raising agent).

For me, as a general rule, I prioritise items with ingredients written as identifiable ingredients over those with ingredients written as E numbers
 
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