Envisioning a System Less Reliant on UPFs

The focus of this research is on ultra-processed foods, specifically the role they play in our food system and what a future less reliant on them could look like.

Food Classification

Group 1:

minimally processed + unprocessed foods

Group 2:

processed ingredients derived from food in group one or nature

Group 3:

processed foods

Group 4:

UPFs

EXAMPLES:

fruits

veggies

nuts

EXAMPLES:

syrup

salt

oil

EXAMPLES:

tortilla chips

sweetened juice

granola bars

UPFs: What are they?

UPF stands for ultra-processed food, and these are industrial creations that include many ingredients. They are foods that have been highly altered from their original form via canning, dying, heating, pasteurizing, etc.

If you're considering how processed a food is, you can ask yourself,

How closely does this product resemble its original form/what it is derived from?

Often, these foods have ingredients lists that:

are very lengthy

include ingredients that are unrecognizable

Issues:

"as a consequence of the ultra-processing of foods... the consumer is faced with cheap foods high in fat, sugar, and salt" (Gibney, 2019, p. 2)

This means that consumers are taking in less nutrient dense foods that can lead to chronic health diseases.

Food processing is deemed necessary to preserve food; however, for the past 20 years, this industrialization in food systems has been on the rise and often leads to low-quality products that can be harmful to human health and environmental health.

Sustainability Connection

As the human species progresses on this earth, environmental degradation follows. Industrial creations that are UPFs impact a range of factors that play into sustainable development; their production can harm human health, ecosystem biodiversity, small farmers, traditional culinary practices, and small farmers, which go against the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), some being good health and well-being (#3), sustainable cities and communities (#11), and life on land (#15).

My research question:

What is a realistic way we can go about reconstructing the U.S. food system to rely less on UPFs?

Data Collection Method

Goal: gain public opinion

Via: surveys + interviews

With: organizers of food banks (interview)

those who rely on food banks (survey)

nutritionists (interview)

college students (survey)

parents (survey)

These surveys and interviews would incorporate background on UPFs while asking the following questions...

Questions:

How likely would you be to utilize an app that guides you on choices that lead towards a WFPB (whole foods plant-based) diet?

^ background: inspired by EWG's HealthyLiving App

What kind of challenges exist for YOU in regards to accessing healthy food?

^ background: there are 46 million Americans who rely on feeding programs at some point throughout the year

How concerned are you/what have you heard about certain ingredients in the foods you find at the grocery store?

^ background: Johnsonville Beef summer sausage has the ingredient sodium nitrite which has been found to have a toxic impact on our organs

Would an educational campaign help spread awareness, and where/what audience should it aim at?

^ background: the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines include recommendations on food choices, like "make natural or minimally processed foods the basis of your diet" (Monteiro et. al., 2015, p. 2315)

Do you think a policy upgrade could help the issue of UPFs?

^ background: "offer consumers price incentives for smaller portions of ultra-processed foods, discontinue the largest sizes of ultra-processed packaged foods and fast-food portions, and restrict marketing of large portions of ultra-processed foods, especially those targeted to children and minorities" (Young & Nestle, 2021, p. 2226)

Framework

References

Aceves-Martins, M., Bates, R. L., Craig, L. C. A., Chalmers, N., Horgan, G., Boskamp, B., & de Roos, B. (2022). Nutritional Quality, Environmental Impact and Cost of Ultra-Processed Foods: A UK Food-Based Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3191. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063191

Ares, G., Vidal, L., Allegue, G., Gimenez, A., Bandeira, E., Moratorio, X., Molina, V., Curutchet, M. R. (2016). Consumers’ conceptualization of ultra-processed foods. Appetite, 105. 611-617. https://doiorg.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/10.1016/j.appet.2016.06.028

Fardet, A., & Rock, E. (2020). Ultra-Processed Foods and Food System Sustainability: What Are the Links? Sustainability, 12(15), 6280. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156280

Gibney, M. J. (2019). Ultra-Processed Foods: Definitions and Policy Issues. Current Developments in Nutrition, 3(2), 1-7. https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/science/article/pii/S2475299122129872?via%3Dihub

Grigorenko, A. S., Yeroshenko, H. A., Shevchenko, K. V., & Perederii, N. O. (2021). Biological Effects of the Most Common Food Additives. Acta Balneologica, 164(4), 309-314. https://doi.org/10.36740/ABAL202104111

Gundersen, C., Engelhard, E., & Hake, M. (2017). The Determinants of Food Insecurity among Food Bank Clients in the United States. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 51(3), 501-518. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12157

Lucan, S. C., Maroko, A. R., Seitchik, J. L., Yoon, D., Sperry, L. E., & Schechter, C. B. (2018). Sources of Foods That Are Ready-to-Consume (‘Grazing Environments’) Versus Requiring Additional Preparation (‘Grocery Environments’): Implications for Food-Environment Research and Community Health. Journal of Community Health, 43(5), 886-895. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-018-0498-9

Mazloomi, S. N., Talebi, S., Mejrabani, S., Bagheri, R., Ghavami, A., Zarpoosh, M., Mohammadi, H., Wong, A., Nordvall, M., Kermani, M. A. H., & Moradi, S. (2023). The association of ultra-processed food consumption with adult mental health disorders: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of 260,385 participants. Nutritional Neuroscience, 26(10), 913-931.

Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Moubarac, J.-C., Martins, A. P. B., Martins, C. A., Garzillo, J., Canella, D. S., et al. (2015). Dietary guidelines to nourish humanity and the planet in the twenty-first century. A blueprint from Brazil. Public Health Nutrition, 18(13), 2311–2322. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/dietary-guidelines-to-nourish-humanity-and-the-planet-in-the-twentyfirst-century-a-blueprint-from-brazil/FDD994F83D72D8620C16C1956D08BB32

Pye, A., Bash, K., Joiner, A., & Beenstock, J. (2022). Good for the planet and good for our health: the evidence for whole-food plant-based diets. BJPsych International, 19(4), 90-92. https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2022.7

Strazza, K., Jordan, J., Ferriola-Bruckenstein, K., Kane, H., Whitehill, J., Teachout, E., & Yarnoff, B. (2022). Approaches for Implementing Healthy Food Interventions in Settings With Limited Resources: A Case Study of Sodium Reduction Interventions in Emergency Food Programs Addressing Food Insecurity. American Journal of Health Promotion, 36(3), 487-496.

Young, L.R., & Nestle, M. (2021). Portion Sizes of Ultra-Processed Foods in the United States, 2002 to 2021. American Journal of Public Health, 111(12), 2223-2226. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2021.306513

Kubala, J. (2023). Healthy Food vs. Highly Processed Food: What to Know. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/junk-food-vs-healthy-food#should-you-avoid-highly-processed-foods

https://www.ewg.org/who-we-are/our-mission

https://www.freshfruitportal.com/news/2017/11/22/australian-veggie-farm-profits-fewer-operations/

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/ultra-processed-foods#So,-whats-the-difference-between-regular-processed-foods-and-ultra-processed-foods?-And-what-does-that-mean-for-your-health?

https://sdgs.un.org/goals