Should we eat ultra-processed food?
4/30/20267 min
What is your ultra-processed guilty pleasure? Many of us love home-cooked food, but when we're in a rush, it's often more convenient to eat snacks, or to buy quick, easy meals from the supermarket which we simply have to heat up. These are often ultra-processed forms of food, which recent studies have linked to poor health. Phil and Pippa discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary.
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Speaker 20:27
[upbeat music] Six Minute English.
Speaker 30:30
From bbclearningenglish.com.
Phil· Host0:33
Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.
Pippa· Host0:40
And I'm Pippa.
Phil· Host0:41
If you've eaten anything today, then it's likely that some of your food was ultra-processed, food containing artificial ingredients like additives and sweeteners. Ultra-processed foods are everywhere, from sliced bread to chocolate biscuits and crisps.
Pippa· Host0:58
They might taste good, but the bad news is that ultra-processed foods have been linked to poor health. They often contain lots of sugar and salt, and have been linked to problems like obesity and diabetes. So how can we tell what food is ultra-processed and what's not? Here's health reporter Annabel Rackham on BBC World Service program, What in the World?
Annabel Rackham· Soundbite1:21
Ultra-processed foods are things that contain five or more ingredients, um, and things that you wouldn't find in your average kitchen. It's