Can you eat ultra-processed foods and still be healthy? A dietitian analysed my weekly shop

Ruth Clegg, a health and wellbeing reporter, describes the supermarket as a minefield, saying she spends time in aisle 15 reading long ingredient lists and worrying whether the items in her trolley are good for her or not. She notes growing evidence that a large proportion of the food people consume could be harmful, with ultra-processed foods (UPFs) linked to a range of health problems. After becoming weary of second‑guessing herself and fearing she might be poisoning her child by feeding him chicken nuggets, she handed her weekly shopping list to a dietitian for analysis. According to the dietitian, Maeve Hanan of the British Dietetic Association, a product is considered ultra‑processed if it contains more than five ingredients, with at least one not usually found in a home kitchen—such as emulsifiers, additives and flavourings. Hanan points to a container of bran flakes on Clegg’s list, saying, “This is ultra‑processed, but I often bargain this for my family. It's got truthful galore wellness benefits.” Hanan warns of a “growing hysteria” surrounding UPFs, explaining, “Mainly due to the fact that the messaging astir them is truthful achromatic and white,” she says. “This nutrient is good. This nutrient is bad.” She adds, “It just fuels fearfulness - and fearfulness astir nutrient is ne'er good.” When asked about her shopping, Hanan says the presence of UPFs does not automatically make the shop unhealthy. “While determination are UPFs successful there, that doesn't needfully marque it an unhealthy nutrient shop. In fact, Hanan says, 'there's a bully premix of foods which screen each nutrient group'.” She continues, “Just due to the fact that immoderate products person a agelong constituent list, it doesn't marque them 'inherently bad', she explains, with the nutritional worth 'far much important'.” Using Clegg’s son’s chicken nuggets as an example, Hanan notes, “There are mandatory vitamins and minerals which manufacturers in the UK are required to add to white wheat flour specified as calcium carbonate, niacin and thiamin,” she says. “Raising agents, specified as disodium diphosphate, are used alongside sodium bicarbonate (baking powder) to make the batter crisp and light.” She adds, “Hanan says even the most chemical-sounding ingredients will have been tested and approved under UK food laws.” Hanan cautions, “But portion chicken nuggets are a good source of protein,” she warns, “they are higher in fat and salt than a plain chicken breast, so I would eat them in moderation as part of a balanced diet.” Clegg mentions her son usually eats the