Doctor warns Brits to stop eating popular food that's 'quietly taken over our kitchens'
Dr Andy Chan, a Harvard professor and cancer researcher, has issued a warning about a common food item found in most kitchens that could potentially cause cancer. Dr Chan, who is also a member of the scientific advisory board for the healthy lifestyle app, Zoe, highlighted the potential dangers of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
These UPFs are being linked to various forms of cancer and are incredibly popular in the UK, with over 50 per cent of our calorie intake coming from them - one of the highest rates in Europe.
While there isn't a single definition of what constitutes a UPF, the general consensus, as defined by the NOVA classification, is that it's a food containing 'formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, typically created by a series of industrial techniques and processes'.
Put more simply, it is a food which contains ingredients which could or would not be found in a normal home kitchen. Things like additives, emulsifiers, or stabilisers might all be found in UPFs which are not seen in the everyday UK household.
Why are they bad?
A Zoe post highlighting Dr Chan's fears said: "Processed foods have quietly taken over our kitchens. Today, they make up more than half of the calories we eat at home, and it's not just takeaways and packaged snacks - many homemade meals we trust as healthy are packed with ingredients that could be harming our long-term health."
Research into UPFs is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy. Although more and more links are being drawn between UPFs and ill health, quite why they are bad for us is only slowly becoming clear.
The British Heart Foundation says that they often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt, and sugar. Eating them means we have less space for nutritious, home-cooked food.
"It's also been suggested that the additives in these foods could be responsible for negative health effects," it adds, before saying they could also have an impact on our gut health.
Dr Chan said: "We're starting to see evidence that consumption of UPFs does have a role in the likelihood of having a colon polyp, which is a precursor to colon cancer. Some of the trends we are seeing with obesity and its link to early-onset cancer may in part be related also to diet and ultra-processed food consumption.
"The other component of that research which, I think, is what you're doing at Zoe, is trying to not just use these very broad categories of UPF, but trying to understand - are there specific types of UPF that may be more harmful to us than others."
Examples of UPFs
Examples of UPFs according to the British Heart Foundation are:
ham and sausages
mass-produced bread, breakfast cereals, instant soups
crisps and biscuits
ice cream and fruit-flavoured yogurts
carbonated drinks and some alcoholic drinks including whisky, gin, and rum
It also stresses that everyday foods such as sliced bread and breakfast cereal are often ultra processed: "This is because they often have extra ingredients added during production, such as emulsifiers, sweeteners, and artificial colours and flavours."
Even freshly-made dairy cheeses like Cheddar, Brie, mozzarella and Edam, can be classed as processed due to things like pasteurisation, fermentation or ageing. However, it adds that these can form part of a healthy diet, so long as they are eaten in moderation - something which is seen as a limitation in the NOVA classification.
"Although the evidence to suggest that ultra-processed foods are bad for our heart and circulation seems to be growing, the type and quality of the research means it's still not clear that we need to completely exclude them," the British Heart Foundation concluded.
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