Nutritional Quality, Environmental Impact and Cost of Ultra-Processed Foods: A UK Food-Based Analysis.

Magaly Aceves-Martins,Leone C A Craig,Graham Horgan,Neil Chalmers,Bram Boskamp,Ruth L Bates,Baukje De Roos

doi:10.3390/ijerph19063191

Abstract

Food-based analyses of the healthiness, environmental sustainability and affordability of processed and ultra-processed foods are lacking. This paper aimed to determine how ultra-processed and processed foods compare to fresh and minimally processed foods in relation to nutritional quality, greenhouse gas emissions and cost on the food and food group level. Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey nutrient databank year 11 (2018/2019) were used for this analysis. Median and bootstrapped medians of nutritional quality (NRF8.3 index), greenhouse gas emissions (gCO2-equivalents) and cost (in GBP) were compared across processing categories. An optimal score based on the medians was created to identify the most nutritional, sustainable, and affordable options across processing categories. On a per 100 kcal basis, ultra-processed and processed foods had a lower nutritional quality, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and were cheaper than minimally processed foods, regardless of their total fat, salt and/or sugar content. The most nutritious, environmentally friendly, and affordable foods were generally lower in total fat, salt, and sugar, irrespective of processing level. The high variability in greenhouse gas emissions and cost across food groups and processing levels offer opportunities for food swaps representing the healthiest, greenest, and most affordable options.

Highlights

Food processing is essential for food preservation to provide edible, safe, and nutritious foods [1]
We found that across all food groups, median NRF8.3 values and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) were significantly lower, but costs were significantly higher for products high in total fats, salt and/or total sugar, compared to products low in total fats, salt and/or sugar content, across processing categories
A higher proportion of the most nutritious, environmentally friendly, and affordable foods were low in total fat, salt and/or sugar, but these foods were found to be distributed across processing groups

Summary

Introduction

Food processing is essential for food preservation to provide edible, safe, and nutritious foods [1]. Industries’ processing methods, techniques, and ingredients are considered an indispensable aspect of food products and diets, since they might affect human health and well-being [2,3]. Several types of food processing are valuable, ultra-processing is often associated with low-quality, energy-dense food products [4]. There is a growing debate on whether high food processing levels may detrimentally affect consumers’ health [5,6]. A randomised controlled trial recently showed that consumption of diets rich in ultra-processed foods causes excess energy intake, increased consumption of carbohydrates, and weight gain among adults [7]. Observational studies have shown that the consumption of ultra-processed food is associated with several adverse and chronic health outcomes in children [8,9] and adults [10–12], including mortality [13]

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