Our Head of Travel Nutrition, dietitian Melissa Adamski APD, contributed an article on ultra-processed foods and onboard catering in the latest issue of Onboard Hospitality. This article explores why airlines and caterers need to take note of the growing discourse and research around ultra-processed foods.
What are Ultra-processed foods?
Ultra-processed foods are typically described as products made from formulations of ingredients (mainly substances extracted from foods or derived from food components) and produced through industrial techniques and processes. Some nutrition professionals describe them as being foods made from ingredients you generally can’t find in your pantry at home or are foods you can’t easily make in your home. This term gained traction with the publication of the NOVA classification system which groups foods according to levels of processing.
What is important to note from this classification system is that UPFs are not referring to all foods that have been processed. Many foods go through a degree of ‘processing’ before we consume them for example simply washing and preparing fruits and vegetables for packaging is a form of processing. This classification system recognises these different degrees of processing which foods and ingredients may be exposed to in the food supply chain.
To read the rest of the article on ultra-processed foods and onboard catering, please visit page 38 of Issue 102 of Onboard Hospitality.
For more travel nutrition industry articles by Melissa Adamski, Travel Dietitian, see:
