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| Radiotherapy, Cheltenham Hospital |
How much do we eat?
Most of the food in the UK is Ultra-Processed food (UPFs) making up 65% of children diets. Dr Kiara Chang, who worked research at Imperial College, London, said to The Independent newspaper in February this year (i), that the average person in the UK relies on UPFs for more than half of their daily energy intake, with poorer people more vulnerable to taking the cheap and unhealthy option.
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| Apologies but can't find reference for this |
Health risks
These foods have little or no nutritional value and their industrial processing and chemical ingredients often make them easier to eat without filling us up - so we crave more. We know UPFs carry serious health risks including heart, liver and kidney disease, depression, early death, obesity and cancer. Over 18,000 reports come up in Pubmed when searching for ultra-processed foods.
In terms of cancer the findings in the Imperial College research is that for every 10 per cent increase in ultra-processed food in a person’s diet, there was a 2 per cent increased risk of cancer overall, and a 19 per cent increased risk for ovarian cancer specifically. These links held true even after adjusting for factors that may alter the results, such as exercise, body mass index (BMI) and deprivation. Other cancers like colorectal are also linked to UPFs but interestingly the link is less clear with prostate cancer.
See Alliance for Natural Health’s article on UPFs health risks : https://www.anhinternational.org/2018/02/21/ultra-processed-food-dangers-need-cook-scratch/
Culture
Aggressively marketed UPFs have led to the development of a culture where UPFs are seen as acceptable and in some cases even healthy. We’ve also seen a shift to more vegan and other ‘healthy diets’ yet these are not always so healthy; processed vegan meals can be just as unhealthy with high fat, salt and sugar contents. There are now for example over 400 vegan cheeses on the market in the UK, some are great but many are packed with lots of unhealthy ingredients.
A 2019 study found over half of commonly eaten processed foods in the EU are too unhealthy to be marketed for consumption by kids (ii). And it seems to only be getting worse. In the States I read that Kraft Heinz are launching new prepackaged ultra-processed lunches as part of school lunch programs (iii).
Processed meats
Many of us will be aware of the controversy around red meats, bacon and processed meats. The WHO put them in the same carcinogen category as alcohol and tobacco despite being only a ‘probable’ carcinogen with the research linking it to thousands of deaths from colorectal cancer in the UK. Cancer Research UK also have a page warning us about the risks (iv).
Chris Woollams of CANCERactive writes about a study that was widely covered in the press, seemed to suggest these foods are not associated with cancer (v). It is not so straightforward as he shows. A new review of 25 studies last year involving nearly 2 million participants found ‘increased consumption of "total meat" and "processed meat" might be associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer’ (vi).
“Probable cause of cancer” means it is sensible to me to cut out processed meats or keep them to a minimum. It also seems important to go for organic, pasture-fed quality where possible. We can also keep an eye out for nitrites that can become cancer-causing chemicals when we eat them. Last year there were increased calls for alternatives to be used; certainly these are now available but it is still seems very hard to get organic nitrate free bacon (vii).
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| Time to get juicer out! |
‘Serving Up the Food Industry’s Markets Secrets’
This is the sub-title of a book by investigative food journalist, Joanna Blythman entitled ‘Swallow This’ in 2015. I’ve got several of her books so when I saw this in a charity shop soon after it was published I hesitated thinking I surely know most of the stuff that is going on.
Well I did buy it and the book blew me away - some of it no doubt is known to readers of this blog but I guess when it was all put together it made an impression on me. It also goes into how the chemical industry and food manufacturers are designing our food with enzymes, nanoparticles, protein isolates, cyclodextrins and more. Sadly this is the last book she has written although there are more recent articles in The Guardian by her.
To give a flavour of the book here are a some of the stories she tells:
- Vitamin tablets derived from petrol.
- Supermarkets ready meals coming from the same manufacturers with, for example, the same tomato sauce that can be used in pizza, chilli, lasagna, soup, bolognaise and more.
- Manufacturers doing away with the unpopular E numbers and replacing them with a ‘Clean Label’ policy. Examples include E number preservatives relabelled as ‘fermented corn syrup’ which sounds more healthy or using the word ‘Extract’. Rosemary extract, for example is the same as E392 and has faced processing that deodorises (removes rosemary taste and smell) by using supercritical fluid-extraction or chemical solvents.
- Supermarket in-store bakeries that don’t have to give a complete list of ingredients (and don’t).
- ‘Fresh’ cut fruit sprayed in an acid solution to add 21 days to its shelf life.
- Commercial cooking oil is used for up to 12 days, kept ‘fresh’ by a cocktail of antifreeze and varnish. It doesn’t appear on the label of your chicken kiev because it’s classed as a processing aid rather than an additive.
- Processing to ensure pitta bread stays ‘fresh’ for six months.
- Food manufacturers use over 2,500 ‘approved flavouring substances’; 400 of these are under evaluation for safety testing that takes many years to complete. A typical strawberry flavouring in a milkshake uses around 50 chemicals while several chemicals are used to make up the taste of ‘aged’ or ‘mature’ cheeses.
- Stewing beef encased in plastic with gases to keep it looking ruby red.
- Adding water to meat products by tumbling minced meat in brine, then heat treating or cooking in plastic bags in steam, then this semi-liquid protein plus chemicals binds the meat pieces together to look like one joint.
- How colour cons us into thinking processed food tastes of something it doesn’t; when research showed certain colourings were strongly linked to hyperactivity in children the colourings were not banned. It was only after campaigns then the EU stepped in to insist products with those colourings must have a warning. Prominent independent food groups don’t accept that other E number colours (that are widely used) are safe.
- Other additions to our food include150 enzymes (more are being developed using genetic modification). They are so powerful that they are only needed in small amounts and don’t appear on labels as it is ‘assumed’ they are deactivated or used up in processing. Phospholipase, for example, that is used in bread comes from a pig’s pancreas. Andrew Whitley, an authority on artisan baking, observes ‘safety assurance has a short shelf life’.
- A chemical is often added to packaging like mayonnaise to ensure a slippery surface so it slides out.
NHS App
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| Cheltenham Hospital Radiology |
The government seems unable to take this issue seriously and continues to ignore the health impacts of these foods. Astonishingly the NHS Food scanner app promotes ultra-processed foods as healthy! The Soil Association found products encouraging unhealthy snacking, artificially sweetened beverages and even energy drinks awarded the UK government’s Good Choice badge and promoted as healthy swaps by its NHS Food Scanner App.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised when we know the NHS is unable to take food seriously with such poor nutrition from hospital meals and hospital shops selling hugely unhealthy foods.
This approach can only help the big food corporations - friends of those in Government - to continue to make massive profits at the expense of our children’s health.
The Soil Associations’ in their report ‘Ultra-processed foods - evidence review 2022’ outline the current situation: “In the past 12 months a torrent of new evidence has linked ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to adverse health and environmental outcomes. The evidence was already compelling. A 2020 review found 37 of 43 published papers had established a clear association between UPFs and poor health, while the first randomised control trial (RCT) in 2019 found a causal relationship with weight gain. This had prompted a policy response from national governments across the world, from Brazil to Canada to France, though not in the UK.”
You can read their reports plus a huge list of the evidence including the massive impact UPFs are having on the environment: https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/ultra-processed-foods/taking-the-biscuit/
Take action
Join me in signing the Soil Association’s petition calling on Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, to:
• Remove the UK government’s Good Choice badge from ultra-processed products,
• Introduce dietary guidelines to address ultra-processed foods,
• Introduce a percentage reduction target to reduce ultra-processed food consumption to more healthy levels by 2030
• Talk to families about their experience of ultra-processed foods, working to ensure that healthy foods are more accessible and affordable
https://act.soilassociation.org/taking-the-biscuit
Update 17th April 23: Check out Green in Lords on this topic on Radio 4 news: https://nataliebennett.org/latest/radio-4s-today-in-parliament-covers-the-house-of-lords-ultraprocessed-food-debate
Notes
(i) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/ultra-processed-foods-list-cancer-risk-b2274166.html
(iv) https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/does-eating-processed-and-red-meat-cause-cancer
(v) https://chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/blog/the-truth-about-red-meat-bacon-and-processed-meats/
(vi) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35198587/
(vii) https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jul/08/nitrites-in-bacon-scientists-mps-call-for-uk-ban-cancer-fears
(iv) https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/does-eating-processed-and-red-meat-cause-cancer
(v) https://chriswoollamshealthwatch.com/blog/the-truth-about-red-meat-bacon-and-processed-meats/
(vi) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35198587/
(vii) https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jul/08/nitrites-in-bacon-scientists-mps-call-for-uk-ban-cancer-fears
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