"J'ai arrêté le sucre et ma vie a changé" (I quit sugar and my life changed). The phrase circulates endlessly across social media feeds, often accompanied by dramatic before-and-after claims, detox rituals, or strict elimination rules. In a recent investigation, Le Monde followed young adults navigating this saturated digital environment, where advice on food arrives in a continuous stream of videos, hashtags, and testimonials. Many admit they struggle to distinguish credible information from persuasive storytelling.
The confusion is measurable. According to a 2025 OpinionWay survey cited in the report, 65 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds in France say they do not really know who to believe when it comes to food. This general trend can be seen across Europe. Experts describe a landscape in which misinformation and alarmist messaging about diet have become widespread enough to constitute a public health concern. They argue that the digital space must be actively occupied with proportionate, evidence-based explanations rather than left to viral simplifications.
Social platforms reward clarity and intensity. Complex subjects are compressed into labels that travel easily and provoke strong reactions. In this environment, nuance struggles to compete with certainty. Entire categories of food can become symbols, detached from context and everyday use.
Ultra-processed foods are among the most frequent targets of this compression. The term is often presented as self-explanatory, requiring little clarification. Yet in practice, it encompasses a wide range of products that differ substantially in purpose and composition. When a complex category is reduced to a warning, distinctions disappear. Everyday staples, nutritional tools, and occasional treats can be folded into a single narrative.
Much of the public debate around ultra-processed foods has been shaped by public health narratives that tend to dismiss the category in broad terms. UPFs are often treated as a single issue, with little distinction drawn between different products, uses, or contexts. This leaves limited space to recognise how varied these foods are, or how closely they are woven into the everyday functioning of modern food systems.
Stepping away from the algorithmic framing reveals a more grounded picture. Ultra-processed foods are not a marginal feature of modern diets. They are integrated into how contemporary societies organise food production, distribution, and consumption. Their prevalence is not accidental. It reflects structural conditions including urbanisation, longer working hours, smaller households, and globalised supply chains.
Nutritional reliability is one of their defining strengths. Processing allows food to deliver predictable levels of protein, vitamins, and minerals regardless of season or distance from production. Frozen vegetables processed shortly after harvest retain much of their nutritional value and provide year-round access to produce in climates where fresh supply fluctuates. Fortified cereals and breads contribute essential nutrients in consistent and measurable ways. These are not abstract technicalities. They are mechanisms through which populations maintain dietary adequacy.
Safety is equally central. Techniques such as pasteurisation, sterilisation, and controlled packaging have dramatically reduced foodborne illness over the past century. These processes rarely feature in online debates, yet they underpin public confidence in the food supply. Processing also enables the development of products tailored to specific dietary needs, widening access for those with intolerances or restrictions. In this sense, ultra-processed foods contribute to inclusion as well as convenience.
Convenience itself deserves a more sober assessment. In digital discourse, it is often treated as shorthand for compromise. In practice, it reflects the realities of daily life. Long commutes, shift work, and caregiving responsibilities shape how meals are prepared and consumed. Foods that can be stored safely and prepared quickly allow households to maintain regular eating patterns without additional strain. For many, this consistency supports rather than undermines dietary stability.
Affordability introduces another layer of relevance. In many European countries, rising living costs have renewed attention to food budgets. Ultra-processed foods often offer price stability because preservation reduces spoilage and volatility. Canned vegetables, shelf-stable grains, and preserved proteins enable households to plan meals without fearing waste.
There is also an environmental dimension that rarely gains traction in viral exchanges. A significant share of food system emissions comes from waste rather than production alone. Foods with longer shelf lives are less likely to be discarded unused. By extending the usability of seasonal produce and improving storage and transport efficiency, processing contributes to resource conservation. Reducing waste remains one of the most immediate strategies available for meeting climate objectives.
None of this negates the importance of promoting balanced diets or encouraging critical evaluation of health claims. It does suggest that categorical dismissal obscures the practical role these foods play. When ultra-processed foods are treated primarily as symbols in a digital culture war, their everyday functions disappear from view.
The Le Monde investigation highlights the call from experts to occupy the digital terrain with clearer, evidence-based information. That effort will require more than rebutting individual myths. It will require restoring proportion to discussions of food. Young adults navigating social media deserve explanations that acknowledge complexity rather than reinforce binary thinking.
Ultra-processed foods are part of the infrastructure that sustains modern societies. They enable cities to feed themselves, support nutritional consistency across seasons, and help households manage time and budgets. Their contribution is rarely dramatic, which may explain why it is easily overshadowed by viral claims.
In an age when dietary advice spreads faster than context, steadiness becomes a form of responsibility. Ultra-processed foods are neither a miracle nor a menace. They are embedded in how contemporary food systems function. Recognising that reality is not an act of denial. It is a necessary step toward a more grounded and less anxious conversation about what we eat.
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