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Extremely-processed meals (UPFs) have change into public enemy primary in diet debates. From dementia to weight problems and an epidemic of “food addiction,” these factory-made merchandise, together with chips, prepared meals, fizzy drinks, and packaged snacks, are blamed for a variety of recent well being issues. Some specialists argue that they are “specifically formulated and aggressively marketed to maximize consumption and corporate profits,” hijacking our mind’s reward techniques to make us eat past our wants.
Policymakers have proposed daring interventions: warning labels, advertising and marketing restrictions, taxes, even outright bans close to faculties. However how a lot of this urgency is predicated on strong proof?
My colleagues and I needed to step again and ask: what truly makes folks like a meals? And what drives them to overeat—not simply take pleasure in it, however hold consuming after starvation has handed? We studied greater than 3,000 UK adults and their responses to over 400 on a regular basis meals. What we discovered challenges the simplistic UPF narrative and gives a extra nuanced approach ahead.
Two concepts usually get blurred in diet discourse: liking a meals and hedonic overeating (consuming for pleasure fairly than starvation). Liking is about style. Hedonic overeating is about persevering with to eat as a result of the meals feels good. They’re associated, however not an identical. Many individuals like porridge however hardly ever binge on it. Chocolate, biscuits, and ice cream, then again, high each lists.
We performed three giant on-line research the place individuals rated photographs of unbranded meals parts for a way a lot they favored them and the way doubtless they have been to overeat them. The meals have been recognizable gadgets from a typical UK purchasing basket: jacket potatoes, apples, noodles, cottage pie, custard lotions—greater than 400 in complete.
We then in contrast these responses with three issues: the meals’ dietary content material (fats, sugar, fiber, power density), their classification as ultra-processed by the extensively used Nova system—a meals classification methodology that teams meals by the extent and function of their processing—and the way folks perceived them (candy, fatty, processed, wholesome and so forth).
Notion energy
Some findings have been anticipated: folks favored meals they ate usually, and calorie-dense meals have been extra prone to result in overeating.
However the extra shocking perception got here from the function of beliefs and perceptions. Nutrient content material mattered—folks rated high-fat, high-carb meals as extra satisfying, and low-fiber, high-calorie meals as extra “bingeable.” However what folks believed in regards to the meals additionally mattered, quite a bit.
Perceiving a meals as candy, fatty, or extremely processed elevated the chance of overeating, no matter its precise dietary content material. Meals believed to be bitter or excessive in fiber had the alternative impact.
In a single survey, we may predict 78% of the variation in folks’s chance of overeating by combining nutrient information (41%) with beliefs in regards to the meals and its sensory qualities (one other 38%).
In brief: how we take into consideration meals impacts how we eat it, simply as a lot as what’s truly in it.
This brings us to ultra-processed meals. Regardless of the extreme scrutiny, classifying a meals as “ultra-processed” added little or no to our predictive fashions.
As soon as we accounted for nutrient content material and meals perceptions, the Nova classification defined lower than 2% of the variation in liking and simply 4% in overeating.
That is to not say all UPFs are innocent. Many are excessive in energy, low in fiber, and straightforward to overconsume. However the UPF label is a blunt instrument. It lumps collectively sugary mushy drinks with fortified cereals, protein bars with vegan meat options.
A few of these merchandise could also be much less wholesome, however others could be useful—particularly for older adults with low appetites, folks on restricted diets, or these searching for handy diet.
The message that every one UPFs are dangerous oversimplifies the problem. Folks do not eat primarily based on meals labels alone. They eat primarily based on how a meals tastes, the way it makes them really feel, and the way it matches with their well being, social, or emotional targets.
Counting on UPF labels to form coverage may backfire. Warning labels may steer folks away from meals which might be truly useful, like wholegrain cereals, or create confusion about what’s genuinely unhealthy.
As an alternative, we suggest a extra knowledgeable, personalised strategy:
Enhance meals literacy: assist folks perceive what makes meals satisfying, what drives cravings, and tips on how to acknowledge their private cues for overeating.
Reformulate with intention: design meals merchandise which might be satisfying and filling, fairly than counting on bland “diet” choices or ultra-palatable snacks.
Tackle consuming motivations: folks eat for a lot of causes past starvation—for consolation, connection, and pleasure. Supporting various habits whereas maximizing enjoyment may scale back dependence on low-quality meals.
It isn’t nearly processing
Some UPFs do deserve concern. They’re calorie-dense, aggressively marketed, and infrequently bought in outsized parts. However they are not a smoking gun.
Labeling whole classes of meals as dangerous primarily based purely on their processing misses the complexity of consuming habits. What drives us to eat and overeat is difficult however not past understanding. We now have the info and fashions to unpack these motivations and assist folks in constructing more healthy, extra satisfying diets.
In the end, the dietary and sensory traits of meals—and the way we understand them—matter greater than whether or not one thing got here out of a packet. If we wish to encourage higher consuming habits, it is time to cease demonizing meals teams and begin specializing in the psychology behind our decisions.
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Extremely-processed meals may not be the true villain in our diets—here is what our analysis discovered (2025, August 18)
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