processed food

“I think that our generation doesn't know how to cook for a number of reasons. Our mothers were the first ones who were working, like it was the first generation of women who were getting into the workplace. The microwave became a thing and processed food became a thing during our parents’ era of being parents,” Chambers told Salon Food amid her ongoing book tour.

However, the concerns remain and this has led some child nutrition professionals and consumer groups to raise a flag about just how safe it actually is for school lunch programs to rely on processed food as much as they do.

It continued: “Even in small amounts, lead and cadmium can cause developmental problems in children, with risks increasing from regular exposure over time. And eating too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure: about 14% of children and teens have prehypertension or hypertension. Please take the necessary steps to ensure these processed food kits aren’t eligible for the lunch program, and offer our children healthier choices.”

As reported by Korin Miller with Food & Wine, a new study found that "people who ate higher amounts of ultra-processed foods were 10% more likely to die from all-cause mortality during the follow-up period of 23 years compared to people who ate minimally processed food."

Researchers from the University of Tokyo performed the first study to quantify highly processed food consumption and to investigate its association with diet quality among Japanese children and adolescents.