Canadians get half their daily calories from ultra-processed foods

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(Marilisa Racco/ Global News) — A new report commissioned by the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada and conducted by the Université de Montréal, has revealed that 48.3 per cent of Canadians’ daily caloric intake comes from ultra-processed foods. It also notes that children aged nine to 13 are the largest consumers of these nutritionally lacking products, which account for 57 per cent of their daily calories.

“Children in Canada consume as much ultra-processed food as Americans, and we already have an idea that Americans are eating very badly,” says Dr. Jean-Claude Moubarac, assistant professor of health sciences at theUniversité de Montréal and author of the report.

In fact, Canadians are the second largest buyers of ultra-processed foods and drinks in the world (second only to the U.S.), and for the first time, we have children who have spent their entire lives eating diets high in these foods.

Ultra-processed foods are defined as products comprised largely of substances like sugar, fat, salt and additives, with little to no intact food. They’re highly refined and have almost no nutritional benefit, and are marketed as a convenient choice.

For comparison, minimally processed foods comprise frozen fruits and vegetables, pasteurized milk and fermented plain yogurts, and clean, packaged meats; processed foods are whole foods with added salt, sugar or fat, like canned fruits and vegetables, cheeses and breads. (…)

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