Why are consumers ditching ultra-processed food?
- Health concerns are driving record numbers to reject UPFs
- Natural, unprocessed foods are seen as easier and more appealing
- Distrust of hidden ingredients fuels demand for cleaner labels
- Simplification over fortification reflects shifting priorities
Consumers are turning their backs on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in record numbers. In the UK, close to 19m adults say they steer clear due to health concerns. That’s up more than 15% from last year.
Nine million more say they want to make changes to their diet to limit UPF consumption.
If this trend continues, in five years’ time a projected 38.3m people could be looking to avoid UPF – roughly half of the UK’s population.
Avoiding UPF: easier than eating five-a-day?
The data comes from Levercliff, a food industry consultancy, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of UK consumers about their priorities around healthier food.
Of all the different ways consumers can eat for health, consuming natural, unprocessed foods tops the list as most important. Eating this way was a higher priority than consuming too many calories, eating five-a-day, not consuming too much sugar, and not eating enough protein.
That eating natural, unprocessed food beats some better established behaviours, like eating five-a-day, is noteworthy. The comparison feels “quite revealing”, says Levercliff executive chairman Fintan O’Leary.
Could it be that avoiding UPF is easier than committing to eat fruit and veg every day? O’Leary suspects it might be.
“One expects that eating more natural, unprocessed foods could perhaps be easier than the relatively onerous taste of eating five-a-day – which is something a considerable part of the population struggles with.”
Minimally processed food vs benefit stacking
For adult consumers in the UK, eating unprocessed foods is a bigger health priority than getting enough protein. That’s big news for an industry that has been working hard to add functional ingredients like protein into food formulations.
For Levercliff, the findings suggest a potential move away from so-called processed ‘benefit stacking’ to simple products with clean ingredients.
Also read → Why ‘minimally processed’ is the next big thing in snacks
Some manufacturers are really leaning into the minimally processed trend. The name that stands out is UK retailer M&S, which added new breakfast cereals to its shelves earlier in the year. The products highlight their simplicity and ‘clean labels’ and mark an obvious move away from ‘processed benefit stacking’ – i.e. fortification with functional ingredients.
The breakfast cereals contain six ingredients or less, with the product that made the biggest splash at the time – M&S’ Corn Flakes – containing just one ingredient: corn.
Other corn flakes products on the market are fortified with vitamins and minerals like iron, folic acid, and a host of B vitamins.
At the same time, Kantar data suggests sales of cereal bars (a processed product) are declining, whereas sales of eggs (an unprocessed product) are on the rise.
Levercliff isn’t solely attributing the gradual decline of cereal bars to a move away from ‘benefit stacking’, because as O’Leary stresses, “it’s not proven”. “But it does certainly highlight that the cereal bar category has a challenge on its hands, whereas a more natural product category like eggs is enjoying greater resonance with consumers.”
Why can’t consumers cut UPF from diets?
Millions of adults in the UK want to reduce their UPF intake, according to Levercliff’s research. But barriers remain.
Also read → UPF debate not black and white
For those who have either made changes to their diet, or hope to, the biggest hurdle to choosing more minimally processed foods lies in hidden ingredients. This suggests consumers want greater transparency from food manufacturers when it comes to UPFs.
The next most prevalent is cost, as well as uncertainty around foodservice meals and confusion over what qualifies as a UPF. Some simply don’t want to give up foods they enjoy.
What is an ultra-processed food?
There is no single definition of a highly processed food, but the best known comes from the Nova classification system, developed by Carlos Monteiro in Brazil.
Other definitions exist, a number of which have been explained here: What counts as ultra-processed food? It depends who you ask
For O’Leary, the findings point to a need for clearer marketing and messaging to help consumers identify heavily processed foods.
Despite growing demand for education, few manufacturers or retailers are stepping up. And when they do – as with M&S’ short ingredients lists – it can come at the expense of fortification.
If millions more consumers continue to ditch UPFs year after year, we may see more transparency from brands – and potentially less fortification.
