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Will Singapore’s ‘novel food’ dreams be ultra-processed?

In recent years, warnings about the health risks of UPFs have grown increasingly widespread, even if scientists are not clear what exactly makes them bad

 Sharon See
Published Thu, Dec 12, 2024 · 05:00 AM
    • Ultra-processed foods are a symbol of peak capitalism, created by companies to maximise profits with scant regard for consumer health.
    • Ultra-processed foods are a symbol of peak capitalism, created by companies to maximise profits with scant regard for consumer health. PHOTO: PIXABAY

    ANY food that has a regular shape is likely highly processed and even “fake”, a college friend told me many years ago.

    By then, I had already developed my own distaste for chicken nuggets and sausages, once I came to the unnerving conclusion that I couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly was in them. So I could see his logic, yet his comment still shook me.

    Those curved potato chips that come neatly stacked in a canister are another example, he said. To a self-confessed potato fiend, this realisation was far more devastating, and it was then that I found out these chips are made from dried potato flakes.

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