With a deluge of recent headlines linking processed foods to , chronic diseases and , their status as society’s modern scourge seems assured. But are we wise to view all processed foods with equal disdain?
These foods range from the minimally processed – frozen vegetables, plain yogurt and dried fruit – to the ultra-processed – crisps, sauces, soft drinks and sausages. We think of this latter group as a product of modern society, and yet there are references to sausages, for example, in Homer’s Odyssey, and during Roman Emperor Nero’s rule in AD 54 to AD 68 there were entire festivals devoted to the sausage. Humans have been ultra-processing food for millennia.
We have, in fact, been doing this for so long that it has shaped us as a species. We owe our proportionately small faces and persistently misaligned teeth to a long dependence on softer, processed foods. It is quite likely that the genetic mutation that enables a substantial portion of Europeans to digest milk into adulthood – a uniquely human trait among all mammals – came about because groups of people were .
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Processed food has arguably helped us overcome hunger, preserve produce that would otherwise be wasted and saved military servicemen and women on the frontlines from malnutrition. It helped to from the kitchen, provided more options for and enabled forays into space. We mustn’t lose sight of these benefits and those yet to come.
Comfort food
Just as with most things we buy, there is a range of quality when it comes to processed foods. Take ready-made meals for example. Some dramatically overshoot the recommended range of calories for a single meal (500 to 700 calories), but most fall within this range. Some are higher in sugar or saturated fats than others. and provide a better source of fibre than others. There are ready meals that undoubtedly contain cheaper ingredients to improve profit margins. Yet others are committed to sourcing quality ingredients, often with less of an environmental footprint than if the equivalent meal were homemade.
This mix of good and bad can also be found in most recipe books as well. Some “comfort food” recipes are incredibly calorie dense and they are not all as nutritionally balanced as we might think. Just because it’s homemade, doesn’t mean it is good for you. But you wouldn’t throw out the entire book because of one rogue recipe. Just as we must be discerning cooks, we must be discerning shoppers.
I believe we face a choice. We can actively shape the direction of processed food rather than vilifying it all. If we are not selective in our contempt, public funding bodies will shy away from an important slice of food science research, leaving it in the hands of those who are motivated by profits. According to the UN we have entered a . We face enormous challenges in terms of food security in an increasingly uncertain environment. We need to be capable of having rational conversations about the role processed food might have in helping us overcome these issues.
