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A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 15 June 2019

What’s so bad about processed foods? Scientists offer clues

By CANDICE CHOI cessed foods we eat. All
AP Food & Health Writer three studies come with big
NEW YORK (AP) — Chips, caveats. The U.S. study was
soda and frozen pizzas tiny and individual behav-
tend to be full of salt, sugar ior varied widely: Some ate
and fat, but now scientists about the same amount of
are trying to understand calories on both diets, and
if there’s something else others ate far more on the
about such processed processed diet.
foods that might be bad Meals in the two diets were
for us. rated as being similarly
Already, the spread of pleasant, but Hall noted it’s
cheap, packaged foods possible participants were
has been linked to rising saying what they thought
obesity rates around the they should. The processed
world. Yet advice to limit food diet included foods
processed foods can seem like salted nuts and whole
unhelpful, given how con- milk, compared with unsalt-
venient they are and the ed nuts and lower-fat milk
growing array of products for the unprocessed diet.
that fall into the category. With the French and Span-
While three recent studies ish studies, there could be
offer more clues on how other habits and environ-
our increasingly industrial- mental factors that explain
ized food supply may be the differences in health
affecting our health, they This undated photo provided by the National Institutes of Health in June 2019 shows an “ultra- risks. The studies also didn’t
also underscore how dif- processed” lunch including brand name macaroni and cheese, chicken tenders, canned green reflect the broader popula-
ficult nutrition science and beans and diet lemonade. tion. In the Spanish study,
advice can be. Here’s Associated Press participants were college
what they say. cereals, energy bars and That’s not all the bad news. for the biological reaction graduates and relatively
WHAT DOES “PROCESSED” some yogurts. In another study based on isn’t clear. Another find- younger. And though pro-
MEAN? WHAT’S WRONG WITH PRO- questionnaires, research- ing: People ate processed cessed food was tied to a
Whether it’s curing, freez- CESSED FOODS? ers in France found people foods faster. greater risk of death, the
ing, milling or pasteuriza- Cheap packaged foods who ate more processed “Those foods tend to be total number of deaths was
tion, nearly all foods under- are everywhere including foods were more likely to softer and easier to chew still relatively small.
go some type of process- checkout lines, gas stations have heart disease. A simi- and swallow,” said Kevin WHAT SHOULD YOU EAT?
ing. Even though process- and vending machines, lar study in Spain found eat- Hall, a researcher at the Even without the latest
ing itself doesn’t automati- and a very small four-week ing more processed foods National Institutes of Health studies, advice to limit pro-
cally make food unhealthy, clinical trial might deepen was linked to a higher risk who led the study. cessed foods probably
“processed foods” is gen- our understanding of why of death in general. Hall noted the source of makes sense to most peo-
erally a negative term. that’s likely fueling obesity WHAT IS IT ABOUT PRO- nutrients might make a dif- ple. Minimally processed
To more precisely iden- rates. CESSED FOODS? ference. Fibers from whole foods tend to be richer in
tify the processed foods Researchers at the Na- Beyond the fact they taste fruits and vegetables, for nutrients and more difficult
of most concern, scientists tional Institutes of Health really good, there might instance, may be better to overeat, since they’re
came up with a system found people ate an aver- other reasons why it’s so for making people feel not as widely available and
that groups foods into four age of 500 extra calories a hard to stop eating foods full than the types of fiber convenient.
categories. It’s far from per- day when fed mostly pro- like cheese puffs and ice added to packaged foods “What frustrates me is when
fect, but the system says cessed foods, compared cream. such as cookies, yogurt the message is, ‘Change
highly processed foods are with when the same peo- When fed minimally pro- and even soda. the way you eat,’ without
made mostly of industrial- ple were fed minimally pro- cessed foods, people in For the French study, au- thinking about why people
ized ingredients and addi- cessed foods. That’s even the clinical trial produced thor Mathilde Touvier also eat the way they eat,” said
tives, with little to no intact though researchers tried to more of a hormone that noted the largely unexam- Sarah Bowen, a professor
whole foods. match the meals for nutri- suppresses appetite, and ined effects of the “cock- who studies food and in-
Sodas, packaged cookies, ents like fat, fiber and sugar. less of a hormone that tail” of additives used to equality at North Carolina
instant noodles and chick- The 20 participants were al- causes hunger. The reason make the various pro- State University. q
en nuggets are some ex- lowed to eat as much or as
amples of highly processed little as they wanted, and
foods. But also included are were checked into a clinic New Oregon lab, seed certification
products that can seem so their health and behav-
wholesome, like breakfast ior could be monitored. bring standards to hemp

By GILLIAN FLACCUS an agreed-upon quantity. in Oregon, coupled with
Associated Press That’s one example of the a nascent national review
AURORA, Ore. (AP) — A unit startling lack of uniformity board for hemp varieties
of wheat is a called a bush- — and accountability — in and a handful of seed cer-
el, and a standard weight an industry that’s sprung up tification programs nation-
of potatoes is called a cen- almost overnight since the wide, are the first stabs at
tury. But hemp as a fully U.S. late last year removed addressing those concerns
legal U.S. agricultural com- hemp from the controlled — and at creating ac-
modity is so new that a unit substances list. countability by standardiz-
of hemp seed doesn’t yet A global hemp research ing U.S. hemp for a global
have a universal name or lab announced Thursday market.q