Ultra-processed foods

What is food processing?

It is the transformation of food raw material to a consumable food product, it is always done with a purpose, such as imporving preservation, texture, nutriotional properties…

What are the two types of processing?

• Primary processing

• Secondary processing

Explain primary processing:

It converts to raw materials to food commodities → e.g. milling, chilling, drying…

*Milling: process of cutting away material using a rotating tool. or crushing solid substances like grain into powder

Explain secondary processing:

Converts ingredients into edible products. This involves combining foods in a particular way to change properties → e.g. baking, brewing, freezing, packaging, mnaufacturing processed meats or dairy…

Why do we process food?

• To make food edible → e.g. peeling, cooking

• To extend shelf life → e.g. drying, salting, canning, pasteurizing, freezing

• To add variety → e.g. creating new tastes, textutes, smells, colours and shapes

• Convenience → e.g. ready to eat meals and fast foods

• Consumer’s health → e.g. removing biotic and abiotic toxicants or organisms

• To increase nutrients bioavailability → e.g. fermenting or cooking

• To add value

Our — constitutes the main threat to public health.

Diet

What is the NOVA food classification system?

It is a system that categorizes foods based on the nature, extent and purpose of the industrial processes they undergo.

What groups does the NOVA food classification include?

1. Unprocessed or minimally processed foods

2. Processed culinary ingredients

3. Processed foods

4. Ultra-processed foods

Explain group 1: unprocessed or minimally processed foods

• Processing includes removal of inedible/unwanted parts. It does not add substances to the original food.

• E.g. fresh, dry, or frozen vegetables or fruit, grains, legumes, meat, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds

  • They vary in energy density and nutritional content

Explain group 2: processed culinary ingredients

• Substances derived form group 1 foods or from nature by processes including pressing, refining, grinding, milling and drying.

• E.g. plant oils, animal fats, maple syrup, siugar, honey and salt

  • Other than salt, they are energy dense. They are rarely consumed by themselves, cheap and can be over-used.

Explain group 3: processed foods

• Made by adding group 2 ingredients (salt, oil, sugar) to group 1 foods. Processes include various preservation or cooking methods.

• E.g. canned vegetables, salted/smoked meats, artisanal cheeses, canned fish, beer, wine, bread…

  • Most processed foods have two or three ingredients

  • Are recognisible as modified versions of group 1 foods

  • Consumed as oart of meals or as snacks

  • Energy density ranges from moderate to high

Explain group 4: Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs)

• Formulations of ingredients created by a series of industrial techniques and processes

• E.g. soft drinks, pizza, sweet/savory packaged snaks, instant noodles, pre-prepared frozen meals, ice cream…

  • High content of sugar, fat, salt → high caloric density

  • Their manufacturing involves chemical modifications and fractionation, use of industrial ingredients and comestic and funtional additives. These food substances never or rarely are used in kitchens

What is the purpose of industrial additives in UPFs?

To extend shelf life, imitate sensory qualities of fresh foods, mask undesirable tastes resulting from processing

What are the market and economic advantages of UPFs?

• Low-cost raw materials

• Extended shelf life

• Convenience

• High profitability for manufacturers

What are the NOVA recommendations for the consumption of the food groups?

• Group 3: limited consumption

• Group 4: avoid consumption

What is the link between health and UPF?

• A controlled inpatient study of 20 adults showed that an UPF diet caused excess calorie intake and weight gain compared to an unprocessed diet, even when both diets where precisely matched for calories, sugar, fat, fiber and macronutrients.

• Limiting consumption of UPF may be an effective strategy for obesity prevention and treatment

What are the core flaws or criticisms of the NOVA system and its broad recommendations?

• Grouping healthy and unhealthy foods together: NOVA categorizes foods strictly by how processed they are rather than their nutritional profile. This causes products like infant formula to be in the same group as soft drinks.

• Production bias: it can place identical foods into different groups depending on who made them or the scale of production.

  • e.g., an artisanal loaf of bread from a local bakery might be Group 3, while a nutritionally similar mass-produced whole-wheat loaf in a supermarket is classified as Group 4 UPF.

• Nutritional vs processing effects: negative health outcomes linked to UPF are often due to nutritional factors such as excess sugar rather than the industrial processing itself.

• Observational study limitation: these studies often struggle to take into account lifestyle factors

• Stigmatization of affordable nutrition

• Dismissal of food reformulation: the system largely ignores the benefits of modern food science such as fortifying foods with essential micronutrients to combat public health deficiencies