The Horror of Ultra-Processed Foods

Author: Tim Platnich

Date: January 18, 2026

As the title of this post suggests, the following is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. For more serious readers, see the links in the notes.

Just the name 'ultra-processed' sends a shiver down one's back. But should it?

Did you know that the following foods are considered in some of the literature to be ultra-processed:[1]

• sweetened orange juice

• low fat yogurt, especially flavoured yogurt

• virtually every type of bread but especially white bread

• cereals, especially sweetened ones

• many types of cheese

• bacon and virtually every type of sausage, salami and smoked meat

• anything with salt added

• anything with sugar added.

The above, of course, are in addition to obvious foods that are bad for you like pop, chips, Cheeto's, Twinkies, TV Dinners, and the like.

Reading the literature, what comes out is this: ultra-processed foods make you fat and being fat is unhealthy[2] [3]. Chemicals are bad for you too. Orange juice and yogurt are ultra-processed largely due to their added sugar content. Oranges are OK because you have to work for the sugar - of course oranges have sugar but they also have pulp and other undigestable stuff that makes you feel full and cleans out the plumbing. Effectively, that is what all fibre is about.

Bread, although processed, can be OK if it has lots of fibre and is unsliced. That nasty white enriched flour is a killer. Don't be adding salt either. Margarine on that sliced bread. No. No. No. Pita is bread. Isn't it part of the hallowed 'Mediterranean diet'? But it's eaten with tzatziki - doesn't that have yogurt?

What about that bran cereal you eat every morning. Does it have any type of sweetener it it? Or are you as tough as a goat and eat it straight up? Again, store bought cereals are ultra-processed if they add sugar or salt.

Not cheese - please, not cheese. Yup, it's processed at least and maybe ultra-processed. Salt, salt, salt. Plus fat. Fat is bad too. Just skim milk for you, or better yet - oat milk.

You are getting the picture.

Fruit, in its natural form, like off the tree in the backyard - if you have a tree or a backyard for that matter, is good for you notwithstanding its sugar content. The fibre and nutrients make it a net good. In other words, the good outweighs the bad. Same with vegetables. Vegetables have carbohydrates including sugars. [as an aside, a sugar is a form of carbohydrate that is soluable]. Again, the fibre and nutrients make vegetables a net good. But not vegetables that contain starch. There is just too much sugar in starch. Sorry potatoes, you're out.

What are we left with to eat? Well there are fruit and non-starchy vegetables. Regarding the latter, don't think about adding salt. Just eat that kale, no salt and certainly no dressing that might be ultra-processed.

So can you eat ultra-processed food as long as you don't get fat? Maybe. It's unclear. There is still diabetes to worry about if you eat too much sugar. Hard to eat a lot of sugar and not get fat though. What about if you are on a semaglutide? Hmmm, good question. This is an anti-obesity, anti-diabetes drug. Can I take Ozempic and eat all the ultra-processed food I want? Nope. There still is salt content to worry about. High blood pressure is correlated with salt intake. So, can I take Ozempic and high blood pressure medications?

Some of the literature paints manufacturers as part of a grand conspiracy where they produce foods that make you want to overeat them. We crave sweet and salty and they satisfy that craving for $$$$.[4] Those bad manufacturers. I hate to be seen as blaming the victims, but we don't have to buy this stuff. We don't have to overeat. Don't we have free will?

Maybe those manufacturers are in cahoots with the pharmaceutical drug pushers. The devious plan: make people obese and hyper-tensive, then sell them drugs to deal with the obesity and hyper-tension. We'll make million, millions, I tell ya!

At the end of the day, isn't the answer quite simple. Eat a balanced diet. Enjoy some bad stuff once and a while, just don't make a habit of it. Have some bacon at brunch every couple of weeks. Skip the Cheetos. Eat some fruits and vegatables. Put a little butter on that steamed spinach, maybe a dash of salt too.

One message that comes out of the ultra-processed food scare is a good one but one that just may not be available to everyone. Try and prepare and sit down to meals, with family and friends, that do not consist of fast foods. For those working two jobs, tyring to get by, this may be a rare option, however. Don't be a scold to them.

Incidentally, one study has indicated that all cause mortality from eating processed foods only increases by 4%.

Notes:

[1] See this study which has a table defining both processed and ultra-processed foods. The literature varies in categorizing foods between the two. This study also looks at the relationship between ultra-processed foods and obesity. Also see the link in note 4 below.

[2] In fact, one study shows that there is only moderate evidence that greater exposure to ultra-processed foods has the adverse health effects of being overweight/obese, having type 2 diabetes or developing prostate cancer. In all other cases of adverse health effects the evidence is low to very low.

[3] Being overweight often goes hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes. This study talks about the direct relationship between ultra-processed foods and type 2 diabetes.

[4] In case you think I am making this up, see here. This is a quote from the article: “Many of these ultra-processed foods are intentionally designed by the food industry to be irresistible to consumers, and they’re heavily marketed with the goal of maximizing profits,” says Wolfson."