I read Rachel Dixon’s piece (‘Avoid ingredients you don’t know’: 25 of the healthiest processed foods you can buy in the UK, July 31) with wry amusement, following seamlessly into irritation.
Ultra-processed foods (UPF) harm health on a massive scale. Cheap, carb- and sugar-laden, over-packaged foods are aimed at the poorest sectors of society. They can’t pay £4.50 on a fancy niçoise salad or a liter of flavored water in snazzy cans.
The Guardian doesn’t help by pointing Waitrose shoppers to expensive hummus or falafel, or expensive ice cream. That is not really addressing the diabetes crisis in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Laurence N Mann
Twickenham, London
I feel that Rachel Dixon’s article missed an opportunity to enlighten readers about the UPF. We have been told that they pose some health risks – so what is a UPF? Is it a food made from certain ingredients, the way the food is manufactured (ie processed), or a combination of the two? I’ve never loved cooking, and with convenience foods I’m only too happy to let someone else do it, so I can enjoy the time saved doing something else. So when does a “convenient” food become a UPF?
Helen Grist
Honeybourne, Worcestershire
