Comprehension:
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Attempts to lose weight often end in disappointment. This pattern is extremely common in modern life. Research shows that barely 20% of people manage to maintain lost weight after a year. This failure is not about shaming individuals; it reflects a serious public health risk comparable to smoking. Recent findings in a series of papers named Lacent underline two essential points. First, ultra-processed foods have steadily weakened people’s ability to make healthy choices. Second, only strong and coordinated policy measures can rebuild a food environment that supports better habits.
Consider something as simple as yogurt. What seems like a healthy snack is usually packed with modified starches, emulsifiers, sweeteners and colourings. With busy work schedules, few people have time to prepare fresh alternatives, especially those who carry and balance multiple responsibilities. This is where policy can matter. Front-of-package warnings, limits on marketing to children and fiscal measures that prevent large corporations from making profit on public health, society must acknowledge how harmful highly engineered food has become. People need to resist such products. Instead, they must replace them with real cooking.
Ultra-processed foods feel addictive because they are designed to override the body’s hunger signals. When people eat them compulsively, it is not simply weakness, it is the outcome of meticulous industrial engineering to hijack human biology. Even something labelled as a “strawberry” may contain dozens of artificial chemicals and no real fruit. While policymakers delay reforms, everyone turns to chips, sweets and cola for comfort during stress and loneliness.
Ultimately, despite the structural issues, personal discipline still plays a crucial role. Choosing healthier food is genuinely challenging- sometimes as demanding as other major acts of self-control in life. We can view the greater empathy. It is no less tough than buying a house or sending a child abroad.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a characteristic of ultra-processed foods?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → They are free from chemicals and artificial additives.
The passage says the opposite of Option 2: even a product labelled "strawberry" "may contain dozens of artificial chemicals and no real fruit", and a yogurt is "packed with modified starches, emulsifiers, sweeteners and colourings". Being free from chemicals and additives is therefore not a characteristic the passage gives.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: They disrupt natural hunger signals. — Incorrect. True in the passage: the foods "are designed to override the body’s hunger signals".
Option 3: They may contain dozens of chemicals instead of real fruits. — Incorrect. True in the passage: the "strawberry" product with "dozens of artificial chemicals and no real fruit".
Option 4: They encourage consumption of snacks. — Incorrect. True in the passage: people eat them "compulsively" and turn "to chips, sweets and cola for comfort".