My Week Avoiding Ultra-Processed Foods: ‘Why Is It This Hard?’

I’ve been eating ultra-processed foods (UPFs) all my life. Breakfast as a child was often Coco Pops, Rice Bubbles or white toast slathered in spreadable butter. Dinners usually involved processed sauces, such as Chicken Tonight or Dolmio, and my lunchboxes always contained flavoured chippies or plasticky cheese.

I don’t blame my parents for this. Now I’m a parent too, I have cartons of juice and flavoured yoghurt as part of my parenting arsenal. Packaged foods are omnipresent in our lives. But, unfortunately, some of these foods are very bad for our health.

In 2025, a global report linked UPFs to multiple adverse health outcomes, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression. Alongside the US and the UK, Australia is one of the highest consumers of UPFs. A fact that feels unsurprising but still alarming.

It spurred me to accept a challenge to ditch UPFs for a week.