Ultra-processed foods: the 19 things everyone needs to know

I’m a vegan. Am I likely to be eating a lot of UPF?
If you base your diet on fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains and nuts, then you won’t be eating a lot of UPF. Vegan alternatives to meat, including mushrooms, jackfruit, beans and tofu, are not UPF. However, “fake meat” – burgers, sausage, bacon etc – and most vegan cheeses are. With plant milks, if they contain emulsifiers, stabilisers or flavourings, they are UPF.

What about food from sandwich shops, takeaways and restaurants?
Almost every fast-food or sandwich chain includes some UPFs in their range – even those that have an aura of health, such as Pret or Leon. Van Tulleken says it is still possible to shop at such chains and avoid UPFs, by choosing porridge, fruit pots, salad (often without the dressing) and soup, and avoiding sandwiches, wraps and pastries. Chain pubs and restaurants also serve lots of UPFs. The dishes least likely to contain UPFs are “whole foods” such as steak and chips; anything with a coating, batter or sauce, such as scampi, will probably contain emulsifiers. Again, takeaways are extremely likely to serve UPFs. The best bet when eating out or on the go is to choose a family-run, independent business that serves home-cooked food – although, for many people, this option is not available or affordable.

To summarise, if you think it might be UPF …
It probably is. But Van Tulleken says: “Agonising over individual products is less important than your overall diet.”

Can’t I just exercise more to counteract the effects of UPFs?
Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and has numerous benefits, physical and mental. But you can’t magically get rid of the ill-effects of UPF in the gym, just as you can’t cancel out binge-drinking by going for a run.

Isn’t the focus on UPFs just another kind of fat-shaming?
Not at all – if anything, it’s the opposite. UPF is designed to be overeaten; for some people, it is addictive. Eating it to excess has nothing to do with “willpower” or “greed”. Van Tulleken stresses that he has no moral view on eating or not eating UPF, and has no interest in telling people what to eat or how to lose weight. He would simply like people to know what they are eating and be equipped to make a conscious choice.

The problem is the industrialised food system, not individual consumers. “I resent our food system being so polluted,” he says. “I want UPF to be treated like cigarettes.” He would like to see them heavily taxed, banned from schools and with restrictions on marketing them to children. He suggests an approach similar to that which Chile used with foods high in sugar, salt and fat, putting black labels on them to warn consumers.

What if I want to quit UPFs?
Some people will find it easy to cut right down and just have the occasional chocolate bar or takeaway. Others, such as Van Tulleken, find total abstinence easiest. He recommends spending a week or so finding out as much as you can about UPF, while simultaneously eating as much of it as you like. “You fancy six KFC hot wings? Have nine!” The idea, much like chain-smoking while reading Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, is that, by the end of the week, you will be disgusted by UPF and won’t want to eat it any more.

I’ve quit – my food bill has trebled and I spend all my time cooking!
Van Tulleken recommends buying or borrowing a good budget cookbook with quick and easy recipes – he likes those by Jack Monroe and Allegra McEvedy. Online resources for thrifty cooks include the Guardian’s budget meals series and BBC Good Food’s budget section. The First Steps Nutrition Trust has easy, healthy recipe ideas aimed at pregnant women, but its “eating well for £4 a day” recipes have universal appeal. Again, this approach won’t work for everyone – people who live in food deserts or don’t have access to cooking facilities may have little choice but to eat UPFs.