As much as dietitians and nutritionists explain how important it is to eat the right diet, we just can't seem to eat healthily, can we? You might argue that you've given up on junk foods and that you don't even glance at burgers or pizzas any more but the problem doesn't lie in junk foods. The problem lies in processed foods. Most of us are dependent on processed foods because they're easier to consume and might also be cheaper in certain instances. But what's terrible about them is that most of them are high in sugar as well as saturated fat, salt and kilojoules.
Researchers claim that these high levels of bad ingredients in processed foods can have such terrible repercussions that it could result in a 'tsunami of dietary ill health'. As per research, Australia has the healthiest packaged food as of now. A study was conducted on more than 400,000 food and drink products from 12 countries and territories around the world.
These countries were then ranked using Australia as a rating system. Components such as levels of the nutrients, energy, salt, sugar and saturated fat, as well as protein, calcium and fibre, were all assessed. And after assessment, these countries were assigned star ratings from ½ (least healthy) to 5 (the most healthy). It was found that the UK had the healthiest rating at 2.83, followed by the US at 2.82 and Australia at 2.81. India had the lowest rating at 2.27 followed by China at 2.43, with Chile third from the bottom at 2.44.
Lead authour Dr Elizabeth Dunford spoke about how these results were alarming because many low- and middle-income countries depended on these foods and were most likely to develop diseases. “Globally we’re all eating more and more processed foods and that’s a concern because our supermarkets' shelves are full of products that are high in bad fats, sugar and salt and are potentially making us sick,” she said.
“Our results show that some countries are doing a much better job than others. Unfortunately, it’s the poorer nations that are least able to address the adverse health consequences that have the unhealthiest foods.” Co-author and The George Institute Australia Acting Executive Director Professor Bruce Neal said, "Billions of people are now exposed to very unhealthy foods on a daily basis."
“The obesity crisis is just the first ripple of a tsunami of dietary ill health that is coming for us." “We have to find a way that the food industry can profit from selling rational quantities of quality food, rather than deluging us with unhealthy junk. There are few greater priorities for human health.”
