What is ultra-processed food?

You might be hearing a lot about ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, and how we should all be avoiding them.

But you might be struggling with figuring out what exactly IS an ultra-processed food. Sweetened drinks, sure. What about bread? Yoghurt?

Norman and Tegan unpack why it isn’t a simple question, and where the evidence stands on the health consequences.

*A previous version of this episode may have implied that the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) board is comprised of current food industry representatives that are directly involved in setting food policy. This was edited on 12/08/2026. 

References:

• Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health - The Lancet series
• Diet quality and processed foods – Food Standards Australia and New Zealand
• Most of the Foods We Eat Are Ultra-Processed. Are They All Unhealthy? - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Trends of obesity and underweight in older children and adolescents in the United States, Brazil, China, and Russia
• Ultra-processed products are becoming dominant in the global food system
• The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing
• Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses
• Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake
• The collapse of the food matrix: how ultra-processed foods impact satiety and metabolism by altering physical structure beyond nutrient composition 

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