One tip I learned for roughly figuring out which foods are likely ultra processed is to look at the ingredients list for words you struggle to pronounce. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps a little.
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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Why did I have to be a biochemist?!?!?
If you need to be a biochemist to understand what is in your food, you shouldn't be buying that food.
Just ask a random stranger for help.
My partner is an artist. I could ask him. Good tip!
Checking ingredients is fundamental to buying food
They’re legally required to be listed by weight so you can compare brands to see who if there’s more tomatoes, tomato paste, or tomato puree, or water in your sauce
My favorite game when shopping for my toddler is “how many forms/synonyms of sugar do I see in the ingredients”
Whole foods are generally better.
But the level of processing doesnt define wether a food is healthy or not. Compare the nutritional info on pringles vs regular potato chips. Its almost exactly the same despite one being "ultra processed" and one being "Potatoes, salt, oil" Neither is a health food. Multivitamins and protein powder are ultraprocessed, pork belly isnt.
Learning how to read nutrition labels is something too few people know how to do.
I use this system, as well as shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, in my area the outter edges of the store are either fresh produce or refrigerated meat, eggs, dairy.
Anything that's down one of the many rows in the middle of the store is likely ultra processed to be shelf stable without refrigeration.
The outer edges are literally the majority of their profit, your grocer loves you.
I'm not sure this makes sense. Just taking the headline at face value if 70 % of the food supply in the US accounts for less than 50% of the profit why not devote a greater % of the stores sf to those goods that generate profit? Or have profoundly smaller stores? Why don't convience stores just sell fresh meat and veg if that's where the money is? Why isn't Dollar General cashing in on the highly lucrative fresh green bean and Salmon market?
Fuck the "baking" isle, where is the brussel sprout isle? Frozen foods? No thanks, take me to the shrimp quadrant.
You can eat healthy, cheap, and good, but you only get to pick two most of the time. Avoiding ultra processed foods is worth it.