It is well documented that ultra-processed foods, or foods that bear little or no resemblance to whole, natural foods are bad for our health.

Not only does a high intake of these foods increase the risk of developing a range of lifestyle diseases, but on a day-to-day basis these foods negatively affect our brain health, mood and weight.

Specifically, there are also some ingredients and chemicals used to make these foods that are known to have serious health consequences when consumed regularly. As such, they are ultimately best actively avoided in the diet.

Processed meats

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified processed meats as a group 1 (known to cause cancer) carcinogen. These include salami, sausages, ham and bacon. There is increasingly strong scientific evidence to show that the nitrates used to cure and preserve meat cause damage to the digestive system wall, increasing the risk of developing a number of types of cancer including bowel and stomach cancer. As such, it is also surprising that supermarkets continue to promote processed meat snacks as new and emerging ranges on supermarket shelves. With digestive cancers some of the fastest growing rates of aggressive cancers in young people, an easy step to take is to minimise your intake of processed meat in the diet, identified as food additives 249-252 on ingredient lists.

Diet foods

About 40 to 50 years ago, the artificial sweetener aspartame, or additive 951, became more commonly added to popular foods such as soft drink to lower the sugar content. There is now a much wider range of sweeteners, both natural and artificial, used in foods including soft drink, yoghurts, desserts and snack food. While the scientific evidence linking some of these sweeteners to a range of negative health consequences is not conclusive, the shift by food industry away from artificial sweeteners in favour of natural alternatives that are plant-based such as stevia would suggest we should do the same too.

Packet rice

Quick-cook foods including rice and pasta may appear to be convenient and relatively healthy quick meal options, but if you heat and eat these foods from the packet you will likely also be getting a nice dose of microplastics, which leach from the pack into the foods we eat. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that accumulate in some tissues in the body, including the lungs. They are thought to affect gut microbiome and potentially the hormonal regulation pathways in the body. Recent research from the University of Queensland found that we consume as much as 3-4mg of microplastics from a 100g serve of rice, and up to 13mg in a serve of instant rice, with Australians consuming an average of 1g of microplastics every year from a range of foods including frozen meals heated in plastic containers, bottled water and rice. As such, an easy way to help reduce intake is to wash rice before preparing, and remove foods from plastic containers before heating and consuming.

Commercial pastry

Trans-fats are formed as a by-product of food processing, and are shown to cause significant damage to the heart. There is currently no requirement for food manufacturers to label the presence of trans-fats on nutritional panels. That means there are still plenty of processed foods that are giving us a good dose of these damaging fats. For example, if you are eating commercial pastry such as mass-produced party pies and sausage rolls, you will most likely be getting a decent dose of trans-fats. Popular supermarket baked goods such as doughnuts and iced cakes often contain trans-fats too. If you quickly scan and see the words margarine or vegetable shortening on ingredient lists, it is highly likely the food contains some trans-fats unless labelled or marketed as being trans-fat free.

Flavoured snack foods

MSG or food additive 621 is a controversial ingredient; it is routinely argued that it occurs naturally in a range of rich, flavourful foods including cheese, tomatoes and soy-based foods in its natural form glutamic acid and, as such, should not be considered harmful. The potential issue with the consumption of flavour enhancers such as MSG is that flavour enhancers are routinely added to snack foods such as two-minute noodles, chips and crackers. While this topic has not been intricately examined in the available research to date, these foods do not naturally contain the flavourful ingredients such as cheese, beef or chicken they are trying to mimic, which in turn creates intense flavour profiles that drive overconsumption. This may explain why it is so easy to eat an entire packet of flavoured corn chips or rice crackers – foods that offer little nutritive value. So while there are some naturally occurring glutamates in soy and cheese, when it comes to added MSG in processed snacks, your health will benefit if you actively avoid foods that contain added flavour enhancers.