What even is ultraprocessed food?

Key Points:

• The term "ultraprocessed food" (UPF), introduced in 2009 by Brazilian researchers as part of the Nova classification, lacks a clear and consistent definition, often dividing foods simplistically into unprocessed, minimally processed, or ultraprocessed categories without measuring actual processing levels.
• The Nova scale and most UPF research rely heavily on subjective opinions rather than objective measures of food processing, leading to inconsistencies such as categorizing homemade corn chips as ultraprocessed despite minimal processing.
• The main critique from the originators of the Nova system is that the issue with UPFs is not processing per se, but their separation from natural foods, heavy branding, convenience, and marketing, which are vague and subjective criteria.
• Scientific evidence linking UPFs to poor health outcomes is mostly based on low-quality observational studies; more rigorous randomized trials show minimal negative effects, often confounded by differences in calorie density and food composition rather than processing itself.
• Reflecting these uncertainties, the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency in 2025 recommended focusing on overall diet quality—reducing saturated fat, sugar, and salt intake—rather than targeting UPFs specifically, highlighting the term's limited scientific utility and cautioning against regulatory actions based on it.