You can find less-processed versions of yogurt, snack bars and other favorite items—if you know what to look for
By Andrea Petersen
Dec. 13, 2023
Tap story
There is growing concern from nutrition researchers, public-health experts and parents about the amount of ultra-processed foods in the American diet. Recent research has linked diets high in ultra-processed foods to increased risks of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and depression.
To identify ultra-processed foods, nutrition researchers say to check the label and look for ingredients that you wouldn’t find in a home kitchen.
If a food has one or more ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup or soy lecithin, it is generally considered ultra-processed, according to a widely used classification system created by scientists in Brazil.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
We compared ultra-processed and less-processed versions of several common foods, using the classification system created by the researchers in Brazil.
Christina A. Roberto, director of the Psychology of Eating and Consumer Health Lab at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, also reviewed the selections.
Here's what we found.
Most flavored yogurts, like the one on the right, have ingredients that make them ultra-processed. Some plain yogurts, like the one on the left, aren't ultra-processed.
Most flavored yogurts, like the one on top, have ingredients that make them ultra-processed. Some plain yogurts, like the one on the bottom, aren't ultra-processed.
This plain yogurt consists of pasteurized milk, cream and live active yogurt cultures.
Foods that tout only natural ingredients, including this flavored yogurt, can be ultra-processed. The ingredients include soy lecithin, a substance derived from soybeans that is generally used as an emulsifier to improve the texture of foods, and guar gum, a substance extracted from guar beans that is usually used to thicken foods. The yogurt also has natural flavors and caramel color.
A Chobani spokesperson said “the natural flavors and functional ingredients…extend the shelf life, and improve the stability of our naturally-nutrient dense Greek yogurts.”
The same company, Mondelēz International, makes crackers that would be considered ultra-processed, Ritz Original, and ones that aren't ultra-processed, Triscuit Original.
Triscuit has three ingredients: whole grain wheat, canola oil and sea salt.
Ritz crackers contain the emulsifier soy lecithin and natural flavor. They also have high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener made from corn starch that is a key ingredient in sodas and candy.
A spokesperson fromMondelēz International, which makes Ritz and Triscuit brand products, says they are “intentional and mindful” in how they make their products and provide a range of choices for different consumer needs.
Brooklyn, N.Y.-made ice cream brand Van Leeuwen has a simple vanilla bean flavor with a much shorter ingredient list than Breyers Cookies & Cream.
This ice cream contains ingredients you would find in a typical home kitchen: milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, salt and vanilla bean.
This frozen dairy dessert is made with guar gum, tara gum and carob bean gum, natural flavor and mono and diglycerides, emulsifiers that can enhance the creamy texture of ice cream. The product also includes soy lecithin.
A Breyers spokesperson said it offers many flavors of ice cream and frozen dessert to meet customer preferences.
Most snack bars contain ingredients that would make them ultra-processed, but there are bars that contain only a handful of ingredients, left, and aren't ultra-processed.
Most snack bars contain ingredients that would make them ultra-processed, but there are bars that contain only a handful of ingredients, like the one on the top, and aren't ultra-processed.
This snack bar has four ingredients: dates, peanuts, chia seeds and sea salt.
This protein bar has soy protein isolate, a substance derived from soybeans, and the emulsifier soy lecithin.
“KIND Protein Crunchy Peanut Butter offers protein from real food with whole peanuts as the No. 1 ingredient,” a Kind Snacks spokesperson said.
The Quaker brand has oat products that nutrition researchers would consider ultra-processed, right, and ones that aren’t ultra-processed, left.
The Quaker brand has oat products that nutrition researchers would consider ultra-processed and ones that aren’t ultra-processed.
This product has just one ingredient: rolled oats.
This oatmeal contains the engineered ingredients whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate, which are derived from milk, that nutrition researchers say put it in the ultra-processed category. It also contains natural flavor and soy lecithin.
A spokesperson forPepsiCo, which owns Quaker, declined to comment.
Photographs by F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal
Photo Editor: Elena Scotti
Produced by: Siemond Chan
