There is concern in the United States about the increasing rates of colon cancer in young persons. Currently it is the leading cause of cancer in persons under 50 years. Some possible causes being examined are ultra-processed foods (over 50% of calories eaten daily by Americans), low fiber intake, and microplastics.
This is why the results of a recent study are especially concerning: about 71% of baby and toddler foods sold in the United States are ultra-processed. Snack sized packages and pouches were especially likely to having ultra-processed ingredients, as well as high levels of sugar and sodium (salt).
How to recognize ultra-processed foods? Read ingredient labels and if there is something that normally is not found in a person's kitchen, then it is ultra-processed. [Good book about this topic: Ultra-Processed People]
Examples of ingredients found in ultra-processed foods: emulsifiers, carrageenan, mono- and diglycerides, soy lecithin, polysorbate, cellulose, colors, titanium dioxide, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, dextrose, whey protein, nitrates, artificial flavors, natural flavors, colors, etc. Natural flavors are laboratory concoctions, even if they are "organic".
Excerpts from Food and Wine: Nearly 3 in 4 Packaged Baby-Food Products Sold in the US Are Ultra-Processed, Study Finds
- A new study by The George Institute for Global Health found that 71% of baby and toddler foods sold in major U.S. grocery stores are ultra-processed.
- Researchers identified more than 100 different additives in these products, with general additives, flavor enhancers, and thickeners among the most common.
- Experts warn that early exposure to overly sweet or salty foods can shape unhealthy eating habits later in life, emphasizing the need for clearer labeling and stronger baby food regulations.
More than seven in 10 Americans (72%) say they want to avoid ultra-processed foods, according to a national survey by Linkage Research, conducted for Food Integrity Collective. But those survey results don't include a very important subset of the population: those not old enough to talk yet.
In February, researchers from The George Institute for Global Health published the findings of their study in the journal Nutrients, examining how often ultra-processed foods appear in products intended for infants and toddlers.
To get a complete picture, the team analyzed data on 651 products from the Institute's FoodSwitch database, which, according to a statement, includes "infant and toddler food products sold in the top ten US grocery store chains."
They noted that the products were assessed using the Nova classification system, which Food & Wine previously explained categorizes products into four groups: Group one is unprocessed foods; group two is "processed culinary ingredients," which include foods that are still close to their natural state, such as oils, butter, lard, table sugar, honey, and salt; group three is foods that contain added salt, sugar, and oil, such as vegetables in brine, fruits in syrup, canned and cured fish, breads and cheeses, and any "commercial food or drink product made from foods in group one and ingredients from group two"; and group four is ultra-processed foods, which use extracts or ingredients derived from whole foods and are combined with additives.
After analyzing the foods, the researchers found that 71% of grocery store products marketed to babies in the U.S. are classified as ultra-processed foods.
According to their findings, general additives were the most common ingredient type in baby foods, appearing in 71% of the products they analyzed. This was followed by flavor enhancers (36%), thickeners (29%), emulsifiers (19%), and colors (19%), which together accounted for the most commonly used additive classes. Altogether, they identified more than 105 unique additive ingredients in the dataset.