“It’s not poor willpower,” says Mark Lawrence. The ecological nutrition professor from Deakin University is a global expert in ultra-processed foods, a beacon of knowledge in the proliferation of UPFs.. Including, he says, “It’s really difficult to avoid them.”
Australia, alongside the US and UK, has one of the world’s highest consumption rates of ultra-processed foods which have been linked to “multiple diet-related chronic diseases”, according to a global report of which Lawrence was a co-author.
Dr Mathilde Touvier, another co-author, says UPFs have a “strong and consistent association with cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, depression and obesity”. So it’s “urgent” that consumers start eating less of them.
“It’s a bit of a battle,” says dietitian Dr Eden Barrett, as about 60% of packaged foods in Australia would be classified as UPF, according to the George Institute for Global Health, which assessed more than 40,000 products available in supermarkets.
“For most people it doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing approach,” says Barrett. “Identifying the easiest swaps rather than changing everything at once might make it a bit easier too.”
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So what makes a food UPF? They typically include “flavours, emulsifiers, colours, sweetness, thickeners”, says Barrett. Ingredients used for preservation purposes only, such as citric acid, don’t typically make something ultra-processed.
Touvier recommends apps such as Open Food Facts to help identify foods classed as UPF in the Nova classification system, which popularised the term.
“The definition is foods that are made using industrial processes and industrial ingredients that you wouldn’t normally find in a typical kitchen,” says dietitian and Associate Prof Evangeline Mantzioris from Adelaide University. But it’s important to look at the whole picture of a person’s diet, she says, and keep national dietary guidelines in mind.
Here, the experts offer some straightforward swaps for UPFs in day-to-day eating.
Swap cereals for oats or multigrain varieties
“Most breakfast cereals that have an extruded puffed shape, like Coco Pops, Rice Bubbles, Nutri-Grain, will be ultra-processed,” says Barrett. To know for sure, shoppers should examine the ingredients list. “Avoid ones with added sweeteners, such as stevia,” she says.
Instead, buy multigrain cereals. “Pick ones that look as wholefood as possible,” says Mantzioris. “Your old favourite Australian Weet-Bix and Vita Brits are high in fibre, because they are wholegrain, so they’re good options.”
Oats, made as porridge or overnight oats, “are a great food and very minimally processed,” says Barrett. “Add your own fruits and nuts, honey or maple syrup, or even something like peanut butter to get the flavours you want.”
Choose an alternative milk with the best nutritional value
“Plant-based milk can be a good part of the diet,” says Barrett.
Many alternative milks are ultra-processed, but there are versions that aren’t made with oils, emulsifiers and sugars. For example, Oatly Organic Oat Milk contains only oats, water and salt. Nutty Bruce Unsweetened Activated Almond Milk is made of water, almonds, brown rice and salt. Home-brand organic plant milks similarly can have very few ingredients, however, most barista-styles served in cafes are UPFs.
“Pick ones that are fortified with things like calcium,” says Barrett. “This can be really confusing, but being fortified with vitamins and minerals doesn’t make something ultra-processed.”
Ditch soft drinks and sports drinks for milk, water or juice
Whether they’re full sugar or have artificial sweeteners, soft drinks are all ultra-processed. “This is an area to entirely avoid if you can,” says Barrett. If you can’t cut them, reduce your intake.
Mantzioris adds sports drinks are just as bad. “There’s this illusion that it’s somewhat healthier because they have electrolytes [but] if you’re not an elite athlete, you probably don’t need the extra electrolytes.” Milk is a better hydrating fluid, she says.
For a swap, “start with something like 100% fruit juice diluted with three-quarters of water,” says Barrett. “Aim towards cutting back on that further and maybe infusing water with fruit, or push yourself towards just water, because these beverages really aren’t adding anything except sugar, calories and additives that you don’t need.”
Head to the (supermarket) bakery for better bread
Sliced supermarket bread typically contains emulsifiers for preservation and texture. Go to the supermarkets’ in-house bakery, says Barrett, where you might be able to find ones that don’t. However, they “won’t have as long a shelf life”.
If going to a bakery, or baking bread yourself, is impractical, Mantzioris says choose a sliced bread that’s wholegrain “so that you get more fibre, more grains, more nutrients”.
Wholemeal bread from the supermarket can be part of a healthy diet, says Barrett, “regardless of being ultra-processed”. Used with an egg and salad sandwich, for example, “the whole meal won’t be particularly ultra-processed even though one ingredient is”.
Swap ice-cream for plain yoghurt
Most ice-creams are ultra-processed. Popular supermarket brands can contain vegetable oil, maltodextrin, emulsifiers, added flavours, vegetable gum, maltodextrin, emulsifiers and thickeners. Sorbet, also classed as UPF, usually has added gums, such as xanthan gum.
It’s not a food these dieticians encourage, but Mantzioris has an ice-cream machine at home and makes her own. That way “it doesn’t have all those other added emulsifiers in it”.
Otherwise, replace ice-cream with plain yoghurt, says Barrett. “Adding your own fruits and nuts, and even honey or maple syrup, could be a dessert that offers a lot of nutritional value.”
Pick plain yoghurt over flavoured ones
Strawberry, vanilla, mango or pots promoting extra protein – all flavoured yoghurts are UPFs because they contain thickeners, artificial flavours and in some cases rice starch.
“In Australia we tend to use thickeners to get the texture, so even among plain yoghurts there might be some that still fall into that ultra-processed category,” says Barrett. Check the ingredients and opt for plain Greek-style. Add toppings “and you can get it to taste, in my opinion, just as good”.
“Ones marketed towards children can be some of the worst,” says Barrett. Though Mantzioris says context is important. “If your child only eats fruit-flavoured yoghurt, doesn’t touch milk and doesn’t touch cheese, that’s going to be a good source of calcium.”
Go for salted potato chips over flavoured ones
UPFs are usually industrially processed, meaning you wouldn’t be able to replicate them at home. “Pringles, for example, have been pulverised to a powder, reshaped and then deep-fried,” says Mantzioris. “So you’ve lost what we call the food matrix, or the architecture, and nutrients may respond differently when they’re outside of their food structure.”
Even “healthier” options like lentil chips are ultra-processed. If you want to buy a bag of chips, “choose ones that have minimal additions to them, like the plain salt potato chips,” says Mantzioris. “But they are definitely just ‘sometimes foods’.”
Choose minimally processed meat over sausages
“Sausages are not only ultra-processed but they’re also typically quite high in saturated fat and sodium,” says Barrett, advising shoppers to limit or cut sausages from their diet altogether. For an alternative meat, opt for “any kind of lean meat that’s not pre-seasoned, they’re pretty much all minimally processed,” she says.
Plant-based sausages may have a better nutritional profile, she says, but they too can be ultra-processed. For an alternative, “there are lentil patties that don’t contain many ingredients”.
Look for crackers with the smallest ingredients list
Jatz and Ritz crackers are both UPFs as they contain vegetable oils, emulsifiers and flavours. But there are crackers that aren’t. Ryvita Original only contains flour and salt; Ceres Organic rice crackers is just rice and salt; and Real Foods Corn Thins are maize, vegetable oil and salt.
“You’re really looking [to avoid] ingredients that are trying to enhance the flavour,” says Barrett, so barbecue or chicken-flavoured crackers, for example. “Go for the smallest ingredients list, that is generally your best bet,” says Barrett.
