Editor's letter

A warm welcome to the latest edition of Just Food’s quarterly digital magazine.

Few would argue with the notion that not since ‘five a day’ has a food-industry term crossed into the mainstream the way ‘ultra-processed foods’ has in recent months. But it’s there where any consensus over ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, would end. 

Covering a broad range of foods, the term UPFs itself causes debate but, beyond that, there is no agreement about whether their consumption is contributing to rising rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer, as Simon Creasey explores in this issue’s cover story. Elsewhere on our In Depth pages, we hear from Geary’s Bakery, the UK baker that’s enjoying solid growth with its focus on upmarket breads. And David Burrows digs into the knotty topic of plastic offsets. The controversy about some carbon-offsetting schemes is well known and there is some doubt about whether plastic offsetting can work. 

As ever, thanks for your interest in Just Food. 

Dean Best, editor