Not All Calories Are Equal: Ultra-Processed Foods Can Harm Men's Health

For example, regular-processed foods includes "freshly made breads". Does that mean that some time period after coming out of the oven, it becomes ultra-processed? I like to make homemade whole-wheat bread, and I freeze anything I'm not going to eat in a few days, then toast it and eat it later. There used to be a Hostess bakery near me that would get bread to grocery stores on the same day. Would my frozen and thawed homemade whole-wheat bread be ultra-processed, but Wonder Bread eaten the same day I bought it be just regular-processed? That's assuming I don't add vital wheat gluten to my bread, which presumably makers it automatically ultra-processed.

It also says "ultra-processed products also include other sources of energy and nutrients not normally used in culinary preparations". Does that mean fortifying foods with vitamins and minerals makes them ultra processed? Is white rice unprocessed unless it's fortified, then its ultra-processed? Does iodizing salt make it ultra-processed?

Speaking of salt, when I grow cucumbers and eggplants in my garden, they sometimes come out bitter. Adding salt always enhances flavor, and in this case it also covers up the bitterness, or as the ultra-processed foods description puts it, the salt is added to "enhance the sensory qualities of foods or to disguise unpalatable aspects of the final product", so my raw cucumber salads and freshly roasted vegetables are ultra-processed because I add salt? Doubly so, if the salt is fortified with iodine?

On the other hand it says that ultra-processed foods are "formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives". Does that mean that if food isn't at least half extracts or refined or synthesized ingredients that it isn't ultra-processed? This would basically exclude everything except vegan meat alternatives like seitan and some verities of candies, like hard candy or gummies.

Reconstituting meat products makes them ultra-processed, but drying foods is minimal processing, so the freeze-dried chicken I take on hiking trips is minimally processed, if I eat it dry, but if I prepare it as instructed, by simply adding hot water, that reconstitutes it, making it ultra-processed?

The page concludes by stating that the "overall purpose of ultra-processing is to create branded, convenient (durable, ready to consume), attractive (hyper-palatable) and highly profitable (low-cost ingredients) food products". Apple growers in my area often grow Cripps Pink apples, but some pay for trademark rights to sell them under the Pink Lady brand, which allows them to sell at a higher margin. The Cripps Pink apples are bread to be much more durable and attractive than older cultivars (e.g. Red Delicious), and can even be branded as Pink Lady, adding to the profit margin. Does that mean that unprocessed Pink Lady apples fulfill all of the purposes of ultra-processing foods?