FOOD FOR THOUGHT

CBC TELEVISION, THE NATURE OF THINGS

2019 | 44 mins

More than half the calories we consume every day come from ultra-processed foods - industrial formulations that contain more than five ingredients you’ll never find in your kitchen like emulsifiers, preservatives, additives and dyes. UPF’s are tasty, addictive and, according to scientists, are killing us.  

The British Medical Journal reports that eating more ultra-processed foods is linked to a higher risk of dying “from any cause” and has ties to 12 health conditions including heart disease, mental health disorders and Type 2 diabetes.

In Food For Thought, join dieticians and scientists from around the world on a quest to reveal the truth behind UPF’s.  Their goal is to convince us to stop obsessing over fats vs. carbs or counting calories. Instead, they want us to focus on what food actually is and overcome our addiction to UPF’s before it’s too late.

"This change in what people eat is fueled by powerful global corporations who generate huge profits by prioritizing ultra-processed products," argues Prof Carlos Monteiro, the Brazilian scientist who coined the term ultra-processed foods.

Not surprisingly, Prof Monteiro is at the forefront of a movement to revise his country’s food guide and convince Brazilians to stop consuming ultra-processed foods and return to cooking at home.  A similar battle is underway around the world.

“Poor diet is the leading risk factor for death in Canada,” warns Université de Montreal researcher Jean-Claude Moubarac. “It’s a nutritional calamity.”

Globally, more than one trillion kilograms of ultra-processed foods are sold each year.  The UPF crisis is now overtaking the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, while the consumption of UPFs is on the rise in countries like Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

“We definitely need a diet revolution,” says Melissa Baker, who oversees the nutrition plan for thousands of students at the University of British Columbia in Canada.  Like many dieticians she worries that an entire generation raised on instant noodles, burgers and pizza is unaware of the deadly impact of UPF’s.

In Food For Thought, we travel to Sao Paulo, Brazil to meet Prof Monteiro as he cooks with famed TV celebrity chef Rito Lobo, visit the London home of British scientist Tim Spector for tips on how to avoid UPF’s, travel to the labs of Tufts University in Boston where they’ve developed a way to train our brain to resist food cravings, and meet a researcher in Florida creating the perfect tomato. 

Join them as they lead a culinary coup against ultra-processed foods and provide us with practical diet advice that will protect our health and our future.

Food For Thought features Dr. Carlos Monteiro, the man who coined the term ultra-processed food; Rita Lobo, Brazilian chef, writer and TV celebrity presenter; Dr. Tim Spector, British epidemiologist and science writer; Jean Claude Moubarac, Professor of Nutrition at Université de Montreal; Susan Roberts a researcher at Tufts University in Boston and Health Psychology Professor Jane Ogden from the University of Surrey in the UK. 

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