Editing Junk food (section)

==Definitions==
In Andrew F. Smith's ''Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food'', junk food is defined as "those commercial products, including [[candy]], bakery goods, [[ice cream]], [[snack food|salty snacks]] and [[soft drinks]], which have little or no [[nutritional value]] but do have plenty of calories, salt, and fats. While not all fast foods are junk foods, many of them are. Fast foods are ready-to-eat foods served promptly after ordering. Some fast foods are high in calories and low in nutritional value, while other fast foods, such as salads, may be low in calories and high in nutritional value."<ref name="smithencyclo">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Andrew F. |date=5 September 2000 |title=Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=x |isbn=978-0313335273 }}</ref>

Junk food provides [[empty calories]], supplying little or none of the protein, vitamins, or minerals required for a nutritious diet.<ref name="larsen">{{Cite web |url=https://www.dietitian.com/eating-healthy/junk-food/can-you-give-me-a-list-of-junk-foods/ |title=Can you give me a list of junk foods? |last=Larsen |first=Joanne |website=Ask the Dietitian |date=22 September 2016 |access-date=2019-02-12 |archive-date=2019-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213072706/https://www.dietitian.com/eating-healthy/junk-food/can-you-give-me-a-list-of-junk-foods/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some foods, such as [[hamburgers]], and [[taco]]s, can be considered either healthy or junk food, depending on their ingredients and preparation methods. The more highly [[food processing|processed]] items usually fall under the junk food category,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-larrowe-bergersen/what-makes-a-food-ijunki_b_663571.html | work=Huffington Post | title=What Makes a Food Junk? | date=4 August 2010 | access-date=23 December 2012 | archive-date=23 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323235909/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-larrowe-bergersen/what-makes-a-food-ijunki_b_663571.html | url-status=live }}</ref> including breakfast cereals that are mostly sugar or [[high fructose corn syrup]] and white flour or milled corn.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Magee|first1=Elaine|title=Junk-Food Facts|url=http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/junk-food-facts|website=WebMD|access-date=2012-12-23|archive-date=2012-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221074715/http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/junk-food-facts?|url-status=live}}</ref>

Junk food can be defined through [[nutrient profiling]]. The United Kingdom's [[Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)|Advertising Standards Authority]], the [[self-regulatory organisation|self-regulatory agency]] for the UK ad industry, takes this approach. Foods are scored for "A" nutrients (energy, saturated fat, total sugar, and sodium) and "C" nutrients (fruit, vegetable, and nut content, fiber, and protein). The difference between A and C scores determines whether a food or beverage is categorized as HFSS (high in fat, salt and sugar; a term synonymous with ''junk food'').<ref name="ama-who" /><ref name="asa">{{Cite web |url=https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/food-hfss-nutrient-profiling.html |title=Food: HFSS Nutrient Profiling |date=29 Jun 2017 |website=ASA |access-date=2019-02-10 |archive-date=2019-02-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212013310/https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/food-hfss-nutrient-profiling.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Defining junk food as [[Food processing#Processing levels|highly processed]] or [[Ultra-processed food|ultra-processed]] food mainly considers the level of processing rather than nutrient profiles.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lockyer |first1=Stacey |last2=Spiro |first2=Ayela |last3=Berry |first3=Sarah |last4=He |first4=Jibin |last5=Loth |first5=Shefalee |last6=Martinez-Inchausti |first6=Andrea |last7=Mellor |first7=Duane |last8=Raats |first8=Monique |last9=Sokolović |first9=Milka |last10=Vijaykumar |first10=Santosh |last11=Stanner |first11=Sara |date=Jun 2023 |title=How do we differentiate not demonise – Is there a role for healthier processed foods in an age of food insecurity? Proceedings of a roundtable event |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nbu.12617 |journal=Nutrition Bulletin |language=en |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=278–295 |doi=10.1111/nbu.12617 |issn=1471-9827}}</ref>

In ''[[Panic Nation|Panic Nation: Unpicking the Myths We're Told About Food and Health]]'', the junk food label is described as nutritionally meaningless: food is food, and if there is zero nutritional value, then it is not a food.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9781844541225 | title=Panic Nation: Unpicking the Myths We're Told About Food and Health | publisher=John Blake Publishing | author1=Feldman, Stanely | author2=Vincent Marks | year=2005 | location=London | isbn=9781844541225 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Co-editor Vincent Marks explains, "To label a food as 'junk' is just another way of saying, 'I disapprove of it.' There are bad diets – that is, bad mixtures and quantities of food – but there are no 'bad foods' except those that have become bad through contamination or deterioration."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4304118.stm |title=Is junk food a myth? |first=Brendan |last=O'Neill |work=[[BBC News]] |date=3 October 2005 |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] |location=[[London, England|London]] |access-date=10 February 2015 |archive-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824094829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4304118.stm |url-status=live }} Vincent Marks is an Emeritus Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Surrey.</ref>