For gluten-free, citrus-free and tomato-free Kerry Clayton, shopping and cooking are a challenge.

Apart from her own food needs, her 10-year-old son has no dairy products and no wheat.

Shopping at multiple stores a week for the best free choices, cooking adaptive meals like jacket potatoes and pasta, and making cakes and cookies from scratch.

She bakes for about an hour a week, except running two online jewelry businesses and parenting another child.

When M&S launched its sole product range in March (in six or fewer ingredients), Ms. Clayton described it as a “dream.”

Despite its higher price, its single-ingredient cornflakes cost £2.50 for a 325g box, while the standard category is 500g and 90p.

“It seems like a lot for standard shoppers, but it’s normal for us who have allergies,” Ms. Clayton said.

“It’s hard to find something pleasant to eat for all of us. If you’re used to the luxury of standard cereals, you might not like substitutes, or know the extra costs – but for those who need low food, it’s perfect.”

Life may become much easier for Ms. Clayton. More and more retailers and food brands are leading the way in offering more items with fewer ingredients, which is due to the attention of Super Processed Foods (UPF) since the book Super Processed Man released by Dr. Chris Van Tulleken.

Less treatments are becoming more and more popular.

Ind! Matthew Hopkins, founder of E, is a platform that helps small food and beverage brands enter major retailers, said retailer inquiries about products with fewer ingredients have increased by 40% over the past year. He is taking bigger orders from Ocardo, Selfridge and John Lewis in particular.

"Retailers are responding to growing demand for simpler, more identifiable ingredients lists," said Mr. Hopkins, based in Harrogate.

It is believed that there is a need to provide less processed products, and the plant-based brand This, which makes meatless sausages, burgers, chicken and bacon, has recently launched a new Super Super Super Foods line.

It is designed to be a protein component in a meal and has natural ingredients such as beans, seeds and mushrooms.

This also responded to the investigation, indicating the nature of the shopper's treatment and the presence of artificial additives, avoiding meat alternatives.

Luke Byrne, director of innovation and sustainability here, is concerned about “consumer chaos and hesitation.”

Mr London, Byrne, London said: “We understand that we are classified as UPF, but, due to its nutritional properties, it is very good.

“This is frustrating in many ways because it has shifted the focus from the most important thing in food to the nutritional aspect.”

So, is the public misled as all super processed foods are bad and all unprocessed foods are good?

Nutritionist Dr. Laura Wyness believes that the scope of M&S can only be "hype health".

Edinburgh-based Dr. Wyness said: “Consumers may be looking for products with a shorter ingredient list, but missing fortified nutrition is a step further in public health nutrition. We should encourage more nutritional concentrates in our diet and fortified products such as plant milk and milk alternatives and breakfast cereals.”

“It seems that customers are not always right, mainly because the wrong information is informing their food choices.”

He said Dr. Gibin said upf as a term is not useful to indicate whether something is healthy or unhealthy, and how to explain it to the public is flawed.

Processed food will remain an important part of feeding a large population, as processing ensures food safety, extends shelf life and reduces waste, the doctor noted.

“Take tofu as an example. It is an important source of protein, low in fat, and is considered a healthy alternative to meat, especially red meat. It is also more environmentally friendly.

However, tofu will be considered UPF, while red meat will be unprocessed food.

For food brands that want to create less processed products, he suggests that it can be done by simplifying the formulas for existing products and looking at new processing and packaging techniques, which means fewer ingredients can be used.

“Many foods have very complex recipes and manufacturers may not fully understand the functions of each listed ingredients in their recipes.

He advised: “I recommend that food manufacturers closely check their formulas and determine which ingredients are absolutely necessary and which ingredients can be performed without them.”

“New food processing technologies can also help produce products with higher nutritional retention and longer life without significantly changing the physical structure and chemical composition of food.”

He also expects that the rise in marketing will drive the advantages of processing less food and justify its higher prices.

For example, Premium Porridge Brand 3bears recently launched its own range of low-ingredient breakfast cereals with soccer player Harry Kane. Mr. Kane appeared in product promotion and was also a shareholder of the company.

The 3bears oat cinnamon ring (including seven ingredients) costs £3.99 for 250g.

This contains five ingredients, 300g, £2.50, compared to the multi-family hoops from M&S alone, while the Waitrose Essential Multigrain Hoops' 375g is £1.25, and contains 22 ingredients.

“With our oatmeal, it’s hard to get the texture and brittleness right – because we just want to use three ingredients, and the process of oats is very different from other cereals. Because it’s more expensive to create products with higher ingredients, and the process is harder to reflect this.

For some foods, a debate over UPF seems unlikely.

The UK candy market continues to grow steadily, with UPF products worth around £14.8 billion despite the high proportion of UPF products.

Ice cream ball brand Little Moons may list over 30 ingredients on some of its flavors, but now exports from the UK to 35 countries, supermarkets have copied it with their own branded version.

Ross Farquhar, the company’s director of marketing, innovation and sustainability, believes food brands can get rid of the UPF storm, so he is not in a hurry to cut Little Moon’s ingredient list.

"The reality of categories like ice cream is that certain ingredients are needed to keep the product stable through the food supply chain, such as emulsifiers and stabilizers. So, unless all of us will make ice cream at home regularly, ready-made ice cream can still work," said Farquhar, London.

“I’m sure M&S’s only chocolate bar is delicious, but they’re talking to a very specific audience and I doubt if the big candy brands will be willing to compromise on the core product attributes that consumers like.”