![\"Fast](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Fast-food-headache-1200x800.jpg\"\/)
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(Photo by Krakenimages.com on Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
In A Nutshell<\/p>\n
Food perceptions matter: People\u2019s beliefs about whether a food is sweet, fatty, or processed strongly influenced overeating\u2014sometimes as much as the food\u2019s actual nutrients.<\/p>\n
Ultra-processed food (UPF) labels add little: Once nutrients and perceptions were factored in, the UPF classification explained only 2\u20134% of overeating behavior.<\/p>\n
Not all UPFs are harmful: While many are calorie-dense and easy to overeat, others\u2014like fortified cereals or vegan alternatives\u2014can be beneficial depending on context.<\/p>\n
Policy implications: Blanket warnings on UPFs may mislead consumers. A more effective approach is boosting food literacy, designing satisfying foods, and addressing why people eat beyond hunger.<\/p>\n
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become public enemy number one in nutrition debates. From dementia to obesity and an epidemic of \u201cfood addiction,\u201d these factory-made products<\/a>, including chips, ready-made meals, sugary drinks and packaged snacks, are blamed for a wide range of modern health problems. Some experts argue<\/a> that they\u2019re \u201cspecifically formulated and aggressively marketed to maximize consumption and corporate profits,\u201d hijacking our brain\u2019s reward systems to make us eat beyond our needs.<\/p>\n Policymakers have proposed<\/a> bold interventions: warning labels, marketing restrictions, taxes, even outright bans near schools. But how much of this urgency is based on solid evidence?<\/p>\n My colleagues and I wanted to step back and ask: what actually makes people like a food? And what drives them to overeat \u2013 not just enjoy it, but keep eating after hunger<\/a> has passed? We studied more than 3,000 UK adults<\/a> and their responses to over 400 everyday foods. What we found challenges the simplistic UPF narrative and offers a more nuanced way forward.<\/p>\n Two ideas often get blurred in nutrition discourse: liking a food and hedonic overeating (eating for pleasure rather than hunger). Liking is about taste. Hedonic overeating is about continuing to eat because the food feels good. They\u2019re related, but not identical. Many people like oatmeal but rarely binge on it. Chocolate<\/a>, cookies and ice cream, on the other hand, top both lists.<\/p>\n We conducted three large online studies where participants rated photos of unbranded food portions for how much they liked them and how likely they were to overeat them. The foods were recognizable items from a typical UK shopping basket: jacket potatoes, apples, noodles, cottage pie, custard creams \u2013 more than 400 in total.<\/p>\n We then compared these responses with three things: the foods\u2019 nutritional content (fat, sugar, fiber, energy density), their classification as ultra-processed by the widely used Nova system<\/a> \u2013 a food classification method<\/a> that groups foods by the extent and purpose of their processing \u2013 and how people perceived them (sweet, fatty, processed, healthy and so on).<\/p>\n Perception Power<\/p>\n Some findings were expected: people liked foods they ate often, and calorie-dense foods were more likely to lead to overeating.<\/p>\n But the more surprising insight came from the role of beliefs and perceptions. Nutrient content mattered \u2013 people rated high-fat, high-carb foods as more enjoyable, and low-fiber, high-calorie foods as more \u201cbingeable.\u201d But what people believed about the food also mattered, a lot.<\/p>\n Perceiving a food as sweet, fatty or highly processed increased the likelihood of overeating, regardless of its actual nutritional content. Foods believed to be bitter or high in fiber<\/a> had the opposite effect.<\/p>\n In one survey<\/a>, we could predict 78% of the variation in people\u2019s likelihood of overeating by combining nutrient data (41%) with beliefs about the food and its sensory qualities (another 38%).<\/p>\n In short: how we think about food affects how we eat it, just as much as what\u2019s actually in it.<\/p>\n This brings us to ultra-processed foods. Despite the intense scrutiny, classifying a food as \u201cultra-processed\u201d added very little to our predictive models.<\/p>\n Once we accounted for nutrient content and food perceptions, the Nova classification explained less than 2% of the variation in liking and just 4% in overeating.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say all UPFs are harmless<\/a>. Many are high in calories, low in fiber and easy to over-consume. But the UPF label is a blunt instrument. It lumps together sugary soft drinks<\/a> with fortified cereals, protein bars with vegan meat alternatives.<\/p>\n Some of these products may be less healthy<\/a>, but others can be helpful \u2013 especially for older adults with low appetites, people on restricted diets or those seeking convenient nutrition. <\/p>\n The message that all UPFs are bad oversimplifies the issue<\/a>. People don\u2019t eat based on food labels alone. They eat based on how a food tastes, how it makes them feel and how it fits with their health, social or emotional goals.<\/p>\n Relying on UPF labels to shape policy could backfire. Warning labels might steer people away from foods that are actually beneficial<\/a>, like whole grain cereals, or create confusion about what\u2019s genuinely unhealthy.<\/p>\n Instead, we recommend a more informed, personalized approach:<\/p>\n \u2022 Boost food literacy: help people understand what makes food satisfying, what drives cravings, and how to recognize their personal cues for overeating.<\/p>\n \u2022 Reformulate with intention: design food products that are enjoyable and filling, rather than relying on bland \u201cdiet\u201d options or ultra-palatable snacks.<\/p>\n \u2022 Address eating motivations: people eat for many reasons beyond hunger \u2013 for comfort, connection and pleasure. Supporting alternative habits while maximizing enjoyment could reduce dependence on low-quality foods.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Not Just About Processing<\/p>\n Some UPFs do deserve concern. They\u2019re calorie-dense<\/a>, aggressively marketed and often sold in oversized portions. But they\u2019re not a smoking gun.<\/p>\n Labeling entire categories of food as bad based purely on their processing<\/a> misses the complexity of eating behavior. What drives us to eat and overeat is complicated but not beyond understanding. We now have the data<\/a> and models<\/a> to unpack those motivations and support people in building healthier, more satisfying diets.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the nutritional and sensory characteristics of food<\/a> \u2013 and how we perceive them \u2013 matter more than whether something came out of a packet. If we want to encourage better eating habits, it\u2019s time to stop demonizing food groups and start focusing on the psychology behind our choices.<\/p>\n Graham Finlayson<\/a>, Professor of Psychobiology, University of Leeds<\/a>. He has received funding from Horizon Europe, UKRI and Slimming World, UK.<\/p>\n James Stubbs<\/a>, Professor in Appetite & Energy Balance, Faculty of Medicine and Health School of Psychology, University of Leeds<\/a>. He consults to Slimming World UK. He receives funding from UKRI.<\/p>\n This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755762427_278_count.gif\"\/)
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