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This week’s five top tips for ultra processed foods come from guest columnist Saffron Knight, a registered associate nutritionist… The advice is to eat less processed food – but what is it and how can we reduce our intake?

1. Know the difference

Many foods have to be processed in order to be consumed, but the level of processing can differ vastly.

Tinned products such as fish, vegetables, beans and fruit are often processed to make them taste better or last longer – and this is fine. Ultra processed food is more ‘formulation’ than food, containing additives such as artificial flavours, emulsifiers and colouring. They are often high in fat, salt and/or sugar and includes things like biscuits, crisps, and ready-made pizzas and sausages.

Ultra processed food is more ‘formulation’ than food

2. Quantity is key

In modern life, it can be difficult to avoid ultra-processed foods altogether, but remember, quantity is key.

Nobody can have a perfect diet all of the time. Try to be mindful of your diet across a week rather than a day, and try to reduce the quantity of ultra-processed items.

3. Choose wisely

There are different levels of processing in foods and certain products use more fat and sugar than others.

When choosing between two products, it can be helpful to get to know the nutrition information on the front and back of the packet so that you can pick the option with lower sugar, salt or fat content.

4. Balance with whole food

A good way to balance out your diet is to look at the 80/20 rule.

This means eating nutrient-dense and wholefoods 80% of the time, and less nutritious food 20% of the time. Making sure you are still eating fruits and vegetables, even if you still eat ultra-processed foods, means that negative effects from eating ultra-processed items will be reduced.

5. Check the labels

Not sure if a food is ultra-processed or not?

Check the ingredients label - if you don’t recognise some of the ingredients on the label, it’s likely to be ultra-processed. A good rule to go by is that if you wouldn’t be able to recreate it in your own kitchen, it’s very likely to be ultra processed.

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Five Tip Tips: Not sure if your food is ultra-processed or not?