Packaged food industry and its effects on how we eat

Want to hear a really really scary story? Try hearing about what processed and packaged food does to your health. When you munch on a packet of potato chips or gulp down a fizzy drink, do you realize they are knocking decades off your life? How the supermarkets are tricking you into purchasing more grub whether it be chips, sweets, and fast food or bread, processed meats, jarred sauces, and frozen meals that many people consider staples.

That is just the prologue. Most processed foods often come via a trojan horse of convenience and include most ready-to-eat, frozen, or pre-packaged food, mixes, soups, and other meals. The more complicated the food, the more tampering likely had to be done for it to remain edible, tasty, and to increase the shelf life.

But, fret not! There are a bunch of healthy alternatives that you can swap for these packaged foods. When we are hungry, we tend to lay our hands on anything we can find. By keeping healthy substitutes around, we set ourselves up for nutritional and wellness goals. Foods that are low in sugars, preservatives, and trans fats should be preferred over ultra-processed foods. Replace packed potato chips with baked zucchini chips at home, mayo available in packed plastic containers with smashed avocado, munch on nuts during snack-time, avoid using milk available in plastic packets –in short, opt for all things natural. Ever wondered why breast milk is highly recommended during the initial years of childbirth and that packaged milk cannot stand a chance against it – the answer lies right here.

Let us throw some light on studies compiled by The Nutrition Source, Harvard, which reflect the damages caused by packaged foods.

• In 2015, the World Health Organization categorized processed meats as cancer-causing to humans. The evidence on processed meats was strongest for colorectal cancer, followed by stomach cancer.
• An analysis of the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study found that a higher intake of ultra-processed foods like processed meats and potato chips was associated with weight gain over 4 years.
• Another observational study among nearly 20,000 Spanish university graduates cohort found that higher consumption (more than 4 servings per day) of ultra-processed food was associated with a 62% increased risk of death from any cause compared with a lower consumption (less than 2 servings per day). For each additional daily serving of ultra-processed food, there was an 18% increased risk of death.

In India, the story is no different. Latadevi makes both ends meet by serving daal chawal and halwa to commuters on the way to Nangal, a town in the Rupnagar district in Punjab. As you strike a conversation with her, you will be taken aback by the fact that she uses packaged ghee and rice from a local karyana store nearby – “I find it affordable and convenient to use packaged food for it is easily available and good in quality”. She rewards her kids with a packet of biscuits because they like it more than halwa.

A global study at the University of Oxford has found that packaged foods and drinks available in India are the least healthy, with high levels of saturated fat, sugar, and salt. The University’s George Institute for Global Health analyzed more than 400,000 food and drink products from 12 countries and territories around the world. It found that the United Kingdom tops the charts, with the United States in second place and Australia third.

Simple and sustainable life-changing solutions can go a long way towards achieving nutritional success. Cutting back on canned foods, reading the labels on packaged foods, switching to natural ingredients, and reducing dependence on packaged foods is the need of the hour to avoid the consumption of the riskiest ingredients in boxed and bagged foods. The horror story ought to have a climax and the pen is in your hands!