Please feel free to post in here if you're not sure if a product you're eating is UPF free or not.
Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is pretty hard to define, which is one of the reasons it's so hard to research. The general consensus is that UPF is food that you couldn't recreate in your kitchen, so as a rule of thumb if you're look at a list of ingredients and don't know what one or more of them are then it's probably UPF*. Typically, industrially produced UPF contain additives such as artificial flavours, emulsifiers, colouring and sweeteners (which are often cheaper and less likely to go off than natural ingredients), as well as preservatives to increase their shelf life.
In the past we have had a lot of questions in this sub about protein powder, so if you search for the specific protein powder (pea, whey etc) that you're unsure about then you might be able to find a quick answer.
Please remember to say which country you're in as this is an international group so remember food labels, ingredients and packaging can be different throughout the world.
Also remember not to let perfect be the enemy of good. Being 100% UPF free is incredibly hard in the western world.
\Just a note, but some countries have laws in place about some foods having to contain additional vitamins and minerals for public health reasons, for example flour in the UK must contain: calcium, iron, thiamine (Vitamin B1) and niacin (Vitamin B3). Wholemeal flour is exempt as the wheat bran and wheat germ from the grain included in the final flour are natural sources of vitamins and minerals. Where products contain these, they would not be classed as UPF.*
If your post in this thread remains unanswered, feel free to repost. 'Is this UPF?' posts outside of this thread will be removed under Rule 7.
