ArticlePublic health nutrition2023
Flavour, emulsifiers and colour are the most frequent markers to detect food ultra-processing in a UK food market analysis.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Relationship between 39 dietary markers of ultra-processed food and incident depression: evidence from the prospective UK Biobank cohort study.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- The Future of Food Processing-A Food Science and Technology Perspective. Proceedings of a Roundtable Event.Nutrition bulletin · 2026Article
- 'Do plant-based meats offer a steppingstone towards healthier choices? A cross-sectional audit of the UK market'.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- Food additives in Latin America: a descriptive analysis of the packaged food supply in five countries.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- The UK Food Environment: A Systematic Review of Domains, Methodologies, and Outcomes.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Review
- Association of 37 markers of ultra-processing with all-cause mortality: a prospective cohort study in the UK Biobank.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectiveTo elucidate which markers of ultra-processing (MUP) and their combinations are best suited to detect ultra-processed food (UPF).
designThe study was based on the 206 food and 32 beverage items of the Oxford WebQ which encompass all major foods consumed in the UK. For each Oxford WebQ question, ingredient lists of up to ten matching different commercial products (
settingCross-sectional analysis.
participantsNone.
resultsA total of 990 products contained at least one MUP and were, therefore, regarded as UPF. The most frequent MUP were flavour (578 items, 58·4 % of all UPF), emulsifiers (353 items, 35·7 % of all UPF) and colour (262 items, 26·5 % of all UPF). Combined, these three MUP detected 79·2 % of all UPF products. Detection rate increased to 88·4 % of all UPF if ingredient lists were analysed concerning three additional MUP, that is, fibre, dextrose and firming agent.
conclusionsAlmost 90 % of all UPF items can be detected by six MUP.
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Registered trials
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