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The dangers of processed food
Today we’re going to talk about a new big villain on our plate, Ultra-Processed Foods, or UPFs!
In most countries around the world, and not just Western countries, consumption of UPFs is steadily increasing. They would today account for 25 to 60% of daily caloric intake in Europe, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Brazil.
A UPF is both inexpensive and easy to consume, but harmful to health, because it often appeals due to its high salt and/or sugar content, its additives, and its highly engineered texture.
These foods are generally very calorie-dense, and have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and hypertension. Their production involves many processing steps and techniques (refining, hydrogenation, etc.).
A UPF actually replaces meals you can prepare at home using more raw, natural ingredients.
The concept of UPFs is recent; it was popularized by Brazilian researchers in a 2015 publication, but also by… Anthony Fardet, in France, whom we have the pleasure of interviewing today.
The guest: Anthony Fardet
Anthony Fardet is an agro-food engineer and holds a doctorate in Human Nutrition. He has worked in research at the food-health interface for 25 years.
Today, as a researcher in Preventive, Sustainable, and Holistic Nutrition, he works on the link between processing, the “matrix effect,” and the impact on health potential of foods.
For 10 years, he has been conducting research on food scoring, which led to the holistic Siga score.
In 2016, he developed the 3V rule (True, Plant-based, Varied — preferably organic, local, and seasonal) for a diet that protects overall human and planetary health.
My questions
- Can you briefly tell us about your background? How did you become interested in
AUT? - When you talk about the “matrix effect”, can you explain what it means?
- Tell us a bit about your 3V rule (True, Plant-based, Varied, preferably organic, local and
seasonal)? - Let’s get to AUTs. Can you give us the definition? What is an AUT? When did it
originate? What other types of foods does this classification include? - Can you give us examples of everyday AUTs? And perhaps also AUTs that we might have thought were healthy…
- Why are they bad for health? What are the risks involved?
- AUTs contain additives, hydrolyzed proteins, modified starches,
hydrogenated oils, and highly refined products. How is this harmful? - What is the cocktail effect?
- How can we better read labels and be able to spot them every day?
- What are your tips for avoiding consuming them?
- What are your broader nutritional recommendations?
- Do you have one or two recipes to easily replace AUTs?
Resources to learn more
- Make them yourself! by Séverine Augé, Louise Browaeys and Charly Deslandes
- Stop ultra-processed foods! Let’s eat real food by Anthony Fardet
- STOP ultra-processed foods – The 50 golden rules for better eating by Agnès Mignonac
