What are you eating? Ultra-processed food here to stay. Home cooking’s an antidote

Maharashtra’s Food & Drugs Administration will perhaps top popularity charts among nutritionists. It’s pulled up McDonald’s for mislabelling cheese analogues as the real deal. Accurate labelling is not just about being fair to customers, it also flags potential allergens. This incident feeds into the many problems posed by ultra-processed food (UPF).

Ultra-processed, ultra-dicey | UPFs usually have five or more ingredients, including additives that are not used in home cooking. Their range is staggering. It spans ice creams to meats used in fast food chains. They are convenient and attractively packaged. But they increase the risks of being struck by non-communicable disease. Hence the term junk food. It gives more calories for every mouthful but falls short of adequate nutrition content.

Economics of UPF | Junk food industry arose out of farming surpluses. The conditions still hold and the economics of transforming extra production into junk food is compelling. It’s a category that grows along with a country’s transition out of agriculture.

Mass and premium | A WHO report that brought out the affordability aspect of junk food partly explains its popularity. The years 2019 to 2021 were economically challenging in India mainly on account of the pandemic’s outbreak. In each of those three years, readymade and convenience food recorded a volume growth in double digits. It was out of sync with the larger story of economic distress. Wealthier consumers are moving away from UPFs, into more wholesome and organic foods. There are two opposing trends at play. But affordability is a factor hard to ignore in the mass market.

Solution at home | The most effective step food regulators can take is to ensure that UPFs are accurately labelled. And prominently. Consumerawareness is an effective shield. However, the best way to get nutritionally the most out of every mouthful is to enjoy home-cooked food.Without making it a social burden for women. India’s rich culinary tradition, based on a mix of fresh ingredients, will always be the real deal.

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