TAMPA, Fla. — You’ve likely heard the term ultra-processed food. Earlier this year, a federal report showed adults and kids in the U.S. are getting more than 50% of their total calories from ultra-processed foods.
In the U.S., there is actually no standard definition of what ultra-processed foods are. Instead, most health experts use the NOVA classification system developed by researchers in Brazil. It divides food into four groups, with the fourth being ultra-processed or foods that are significantly altered from their original state through industrial formulations.
In July, the FDA and USDA announced a joint request for information to gather data to create a federally recognized definition for ultra-processed foods.
We know eating healthy is important to your family. So, Tampa Bay 28 anchor Lauren St. Germain recently met with a registered dietitian at a local grocery store to walk us through her recommendations for a nutritious diet.
“As you’re walking into the grocery store, what do you recommend to clients? How do they even start at the grocery store?” asked St. Germain.
“It’s really important to keep in mind what we call the dietary guidelines for Americans,” said Savannah Green, a registered dietitian nutritionist at USF Health.
She continued, “And so those recommendations include typically a diet that’s high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, low fat dairy while attempting to limit things like sodium, saturated fat, added sugar, and excess calories from those nutrients."
Tampa Bay 28 walked around the grocery store with Green to get her recommendations for a nutritious diet. We start in the produce section where Green said, “Eat the rainbow,” meaning have a wide variety of different colored fruits and vegetables in your diet.
“So there is a couple different ways to think about fruits and vegetables. There are three different main options, which can be fresh, frozen, or canned,” said Green.
She said fresh produce is often more expensive, while canned and frozen options are typically more affordable.
“The number one thing I recommend looking at on a food label when it comes to canned produce is the sodium content. A lot of times fruits and vegetables, vegetables specifically, will be canned in a liquid that does contain added sodium,” said Green.
She explained that in frozen fruit, watch for added sugars. After focusing on produce, we move to the dairy section of the grocery store.
“The USDA guidelines do recommend choosing sources of dairy that are lower in saturated fat when possible, so fat-free or skim milk. You can also look at these things when it comes to products like cottage cheese or yogurt,” said Green.
“Protein, there are so many options. How do you go about protein?” asked St. Germain.
“So, we’re ideally going to be looking for lean sources of protein, which means again decreasing that saturated fat content. We know that meats specifically, that have a lower saturated fat content, would be things like poultry. So your chicken, your turkey, or seafood,” said Green.
When picking ground beef, Green said, “Choose one that is the highest possible percentage of lean to fat in that product.”
“Grains, another very important section. What do you look for when you’re tackling the grains?” asked St. Germain.
“So we know that the guidelines recommend whole grain products whenever possible. First thing would be looking at the ingredient list. So, if you see that first ingredient listed says whole grain, something whole wheat, 100% whole wheat, something of that nature, that’s a good indicator. Another indicator is looking at the fiber content. We know that whole wheat, whole grain products tend to have higher fiber content, which is very important for our gut health and bowel regularity,” said Green.
Green said this is a great way to look at snacks as well.
“I think it’s okay to show our children that whole foods should be the priority and that our kids' snacks can come from Whole Foods. They can snack on fruits. They can snack on low-fat dairy, yogurt, cottage cheese, vegetables, things like that. If we start modeling that for them at a younger age, that’s going to translate into their knowledge and their skills as they grow older and become adults themselves,” said Green.
Green also offered three tips to help people save a bit of money at the grocery store:
- Shop around (meaning see what’s on sale at different grocery stores through their apps)
- Look at frozen or canned versus fresh
- Shop produce that’s in season
