Shopping, % UPFs and a Closer Look at Ingredients

 Long Number Heavy Blog Post Warning!

Food bought during February...................

Small shop - Leeks, eggs, Burger baps - 3 items

The picture below ............UPFs 4 things out of 13 bought the list is here

Burgers, Linda McCartney Mozzarella Burgers are considered ultra-processed foods (UPF), typically falling into Nova group 4 classification. While vegetarian, they contain ingredients and additives characteristic of industrial processing, such as methyl cellulose (E461), flavourings, and rehydrated textured soya protein. 

Key details regarding the processing of these burgers include:

• Ingredients: Primarily composed of rehydrated textured soya protein (65%), rapeseed oil, mozzarella cheese (9%), and various stabilizers/flavourings.
• Processing Indicators: The presence of methyl cellulose and added flavourings are clear markers of ultra-processing.

 Pringles are the worst..............,

Pringles are a classic example of ultra-processed food (UPF), made from a reconstituted dough of dehydrated potato flakes, corn, rice, and wheat starch rather than sliced, whole potatoes. Engineered for hyper-palatability, they are fried and laden with additives like MSG, emulsifiers, and refined oils, often leading to rapid consumption and potential health risks, including inflammation, weight gain, and metabolic disruption.

 The others two ultra processed  things not quite so bad - Hovis biscuits and Tortilla wraps.

Below are 17 items for the 3rd food shop of February the shopping list is here. 4 items are UPFs - Stuffing mix, tortilla chips, fig biscuits and someone pointed out that the soft cream cheese also has a couple of odd ingredients. 

Key Benefits of Citrus Fiber in Cream Cheese:

Citrus fiber is used in cream cheese as a natural, clean-label stabilizer and emulsifier to improve texture, enhance creaminess, and prevent syneresis (water separation). It acts as a fat replacer and thickener, allowing for better yield and a creamy mouthfeel without the need for chemical stabilizers or added gums. 

Key Considerations for Guar Gum:

Guar gum is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA and not considered inherently bad for the general population in the small amounts used in food. As a soluble fiber, it may help manage blood sugar and cholesterol, but excessive consumption can cause digestive discomfort like gas, bloating, and diarrhoea. 

Rye Flour.

The  final main food shop contained 3 UPFs  out of  15 items purchased the list is here. Frozen sweet Potato fries (borderline), cheese and onion rolls and the Dunkables biscuits.

I wondered about the noodles? 

Does the potassium carbonate in noodles make them an UPF..........

Extensive research into the effects of additives on food products and the nearly 100-year history of using potassium carbonate in food has yielded no results published to prove the risk of this chemical compound for human health. At the Food and Drug Administration, all carbonate salts are on the list of safe substances. So far, no evidence has been provided on the possibility of side effects due to the use of compounds such as potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, or potassium bicarbonate.

 

And finally going to the Opticians where I used to live so went in the Co-op to get celery, salad leaves and cheese except they had no celery so I got spring onions instead. Spend £3.98 - jolly expensive for 3 things but no more UPFs.

Adding everything up.......... roughly 53 different  items of which 11 are classed as UPF....More than I thought. Although I'm not worried because I'm not eating them all at once and anyway...........

Based on recent data (2023-2025), the average diet in the UK and the US consists of approximately 53% to 60% ultra-processed foods (UPFs) by calorie intake.

Average Consumption: For many, over half of daily energy intake comes from UPFs

Surely I must be  around 10% a day which is probably OK.

There are several easy swaps to be made if I want - usually involving making things myself rather than buying or, as I'm not strictly vegetarian, buying more meat products rather than 'fake' meat products.

Total food spend for home in February just over £88 which is down on usual and just means next month will be more! No coffees/cheese scones but I ate out once treating YD and OGD to a meal and then fish and chips takeaway for us when doing Nanna duty.

Not sure I shall do these food photos again through March....maybe if I'm looking for ideas for blog posts.

Aldi Veggie Meal and Food Shopping

 This is another of the Vegetarian things Aldi have in each December for Christmas. 'Melting Centre Nut Roasts'. I've looked back in the posts labelled 'Vegetarian Taste Test' and can't find that these have been tried before but last year they had one called 'Root Vegetable and Brie Nut Roast' which sounds similar, just different veg this year.

I tried  one last Monday and I've still got a few of the  potatoes left from the pre-Christmas 5p pack so cut one into wedges and popped in with the nut roast to roast.

The nut roast looked OK but had a very weird dry texture - when I eat the second in the pack I'll make some gravy to go with it............or maybe cheese sauce - not sure either sounds appealing to make it better but I'll persevere! It's nowhere near as nice as the homemade nut roast I made (after buying these frozen things - yes I'm an idiot!). I know I've said before that potatoes are my  least favourite vegetables and Never eat mashed- ugh. These cheap potatoes weren't very good either - very floury texture (variety was Electra and will be avoided in future)

On Wednesday I finally got around to cooking the red cabbage which was the last of the 5p things from Aldi before Christmas, I meant to do it boxing day but forgot and we had plenty of other veg anyway. Then kept putting it off as it needs a long time in the oven to braise nicely (I add onion and red wine vinegar and a bit of brown sugar) it's delicious done like that,  I can't eat it raw. Good thing red cabbage keeps for ages.

The  fruit and veg. bought New Years Day from Tesco on the way to Son's had all gone, as had several other bits of store-cupboard stuff and my list was bigger than usual....I don't like to get too short of store-cupboard food in January/February as you never know what the weather will be.......... so I popped to Aldi on Thursday early and detoured via Tesco on the way home for a couple of other  things before the weather turned nasty again.........much rain was forecast.

I know everyone loves looking at other peoples shopping so here you go, a HUGE (for me) shop. 

Although I'm not enthusiastic enough to go through it one by one!

Not in the photo as they went straight into the freezer were 2 x 4 pints milk, frozen peas and 2 UPF  things - mini vegetable spring rolls and Proactive cholesterol reducing spread (although the latter is classed as a useful UPF).  2 other UPF's are the Aldi Cheese and Onion rolls and the tub of Bisto cheese sauce. Vegetables are mini potatoes, celery, leeks, carrots, onions and Cavolo Nero kale. Fruit is a dozen apples and  3 packs of Aldi dried prunes. Store cupboard items are 2 tins salmon, rapeseed cooking oil, brown sugar, plain flour, spaghetti, decaf ground coffee and tomato sauce. Things that go in the fridge were 2 packs of extra mature cheddar, Shropshire blue cheese and butter.

Total spend was £58.69 (total food spend to date for January £66.94) and now I don't need to buy anything  for ages as I have plenty of things for the main part of a meal in the freezer.

There was no snow or gales in this part of Suffolk on Friday just plenty of heavy rain.......all day . Really nasty dismal day, I went nowhere.

Have a good weekend - I'll be back Monday

 

Positively My Last Word on UPFs

A while ago I finished reading the heavy book about Ultra Processed Food - it didn't worry me too much as I soon realised that by eating lots of home made and basic foods not a lot of weird ingredients were included in my diet.  Ever since I did that month of using value range basic food and preparing more main meals from scratch I'd stopped buying most of the ready prepared vegetarian shove-in-the-oven things and that had cut out several strange, chemical, unpronounceable 'stuff'. 

(In my little book about Suffolk Words and Dialect it says that Suffolk people use the word 'stuff' for all sorts of random collections of items, more than any other part of the country!).

Just to prove that, I kept a piece of paper in the kitchen and made a note of anything eaten which had an ingredient that was something that you wouldn't normally have in your kitchen or be able to buy. Then took a few photos of some of the things noted  (Too much time on my hands?)

  Pataks Naan Bread  

Willow 'butter' spread

Hellmanns Mayo 

Aldi Mayo has other things

Coffee sachets

The food I eat with no strange additions...... Home made bread and marmalade.  Honey, butter, nuts, fruit and vegetables and herbs and spices. Home made pickles and chutneys. Cheese and milk and eggs. Frozen Fish and canned fish. Things using home made pastry (pasties and quiche). Home made cakes and biscuits. Pasta in various forms. Rice and home made curries.

Checking labels of some things I had in the freezer and cupboards   it was interesting to see how many additions there are to the sausages and sausage meat which are from a local producer using their own pork. Do I dare go into a butchers with the list of ingredients and ask them which they use in their own sausages?

A month or two ago I bought some 'artisan' burgers from the Wyken Farmers Market. Nothing weird in them but the Lamb and Mint had no flavour of mint and were really greasy. The Pork and Apple were pretty tasteless too and I don't like beef burgers so for the odd occasion -perhaps just once a month - I want a burger I'm going to carry on buying the Linda McCartney (just waiting for someone to tell not to eat a burger then!)

Below is a list I cut from something I've never bought before and never will again (shouldn't have gone shopping without breakfast).

An amazing list.......... could you guess what they were from this?

On my shelves for so many years that I can't remember how long, is this set of 7 small books about food and cooking through the ages from Prehistoric to the 19th Century.

They are fascinating and no mention of Xanthum gum or aspartames anywhere!

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Ultra Processed Food

It's almost a year ago when I wrote a post about Ultra Processed Food after hearing Dr Chris Van Tulleken talking about UPF's on the radio. The post is HERE. Despite what some people thought when I spent a month using Value Range Brands - it  made me cook more from scratch and cut out some things that were made from strange ingredients. 

I felt well and although I didn't realise at the time  I actually seemed to lose a bit of weight - only a few pounds so it might just have been coincidence. 

These were my main meals...........Almost all home made from the basic ingredients

1. Home made Fish Curry and rice
2. Pasta Salad with Feta
3. Quiche (Home made)
4. Quiche
5. Quiche
6. Quiche
7. Pasta salad with Feta
8. Corned Beef Hash
9. Tuna, Pasta and Broccoli Bake
10. Roast Chicken Thigh Joint etc
11. Ready made Beef Pasty
12. Chicken Stir Fry
13. Omelette
14. Fish Curry and Rice
15. Minced Pork Patties 
16. Chicken stir fry with Fajita seasoning over Pasta
17. Tuna, Pasta and Broccoli Bake
18. Pizza using home made base and home made topping
19. Potato, onion, bacon and tomato layer bake
20. Roast Chicken thigh joint etc
21. Fish Pie with mash topping
22. Toad in the Hole
23. Fish Curry and Rice
24. Sausage Rolls (Home Made)
25. Leek and Bacon Pilaff
26. Baked Potatoes
27. Leek Fritters
28. Tuna, Pasta and Broccoli Bake
29. Roast Chicken Thigh and Roast Vegetables
30. Pizza
31. Vegetable and Cheese Pasty

and I had mainly toast (home made bread) and marmalade for breakfast with Rice Crispies or grapefruit some days.

My other meal was a sandwich/crumpets and fruit. Snacks were mainly home made scones or home made biscuits and more fresh or canned fruit.

After the month finished I went back to my normal  eating which is mainly from scratch but also things like frothy coffee sachets instead of plain coffee, Pringles or Wotsits instead of a sandwich, bought biscuits instead of homemade, vegetarian frozen things like mini onion bhajis with a home made curry, frozen vegetable spring rolls instead of chicken with my home made stir fry and cheap bought pizzas topped with home made topping so although I wasn't eating more than I did in the 31 days, I was eating slightly different and the weight went back quickly to my normal steady amount of over-weight -ness!

Then I heard Dr Chris talking again on the same subject about how ill he had become and how much weight he gained eating 80% UPFs. I wasn't eating anywhere near 80% of my food as UPFs but why had the weight gone up again after my month of eating differently and why did I sometimes feel bloated.  So I went out and bought his book and started reading it - although it's very wordy. An early chapter is about one of the first UPFs when coal was once turned into a spreadable margarine.

There was more about UPFs on the Today programme on Monday and Wednesday mornings and I heard that in this country we eat more UPFs than any other country in Europe - up to 60% of our diet. And then the BBC Panorama programme on Monday was all about the same subject.

It's certainly stirring up  interest in many places and worrying a lot of eminent scientists.

This is the link to the Panorama programme  

if that doesn't work the link is below

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mp67/panorama-ultraprocessed-food-a-recipe-for-ill-health

So is this just a new health fad or is it something we really should be worried about. 

(Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday - apologies for not replying)

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Ultra Processed Food

A few weeks ago when I was out somewhere Radio 4 was on in the car and it was the twin TV doctors (Dr Chris Van Tulleken and Dr. Xand) who were talking about their difference in weight and ability to lose weight and propensity to gain weight despite being brought up the same. They have a podcast on the subject and the story of when Dr. Chris ate 80% Ultra Processed Food (UPFs) for a month, felt quite ill and gained a lot of weight . A bit about it HERE.

UPFs are foods that contain anything you wouldn't find in, or be able to buy for, a household kitchen.

They do say that there are a few foods that are UPFs that aren't so bad and a small % each day probably does no harm. 

 

Surely I didn't eat many UPFs .................apart from maybe all those vegetarian bakes I've been testing out!  And if I was eating more than I knew, could that be a reason for weight gain?

Better give this some thought...............................

Came to conclusion I could live quite happily (and without UPFs) on my home made bread toasted (nothing odd added in that) with peanut butter from Aldi (only peanuts) home made cakes, cheese and fresh fruit!

Not sure that was the best conclusion to arrive at!

(Carolyn  is doing a WWII ration challenge on her blog which is probably a better way to eat without UPF's and to save money and cope with rising food prices and possible shortages.)

Back Tomorrow...... if I can think of something to write about

Sue