Ultra-Processed Food and NOVA: What the Evidence Really Says

Key takeaways

NOVA sorts food into four groups by processing, from unprocessed or minimally processed to ultra-processed.
NOVA does not measure nutrients, so it answers a different question from traffic lights or the Nutri-Score.
SACN's 2025 update found the link with poorer health concerning, but could not say processing itself is the cause.
Some ultra-processed foods, such as wholegrain bread or lower-fat yoghurts, can still be nutritious.
Current UK advice is to cut down on foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt and free sugars.

What 'ultra-processed food' means

Ultra-processed food is rarely out of the headlines, and it is easy to come away feeling that half of your shopping trolley is a problem. The evidence is more nuanced than that, and understanding it can make the aisles feel calmer.

The term comes from NOVA, a classification developed by Carlos Monteiro and colleagues at the University of São Paulo. It sorts foods by the extent and purpose of processing, not by nutrients. That makes it a different tool from traffic-light labels or the Nutri-Score, which look at fat, sugar, salt and other nutrients.

The four NOVA groups

Group 1, unprocessed or minimally processed foods: fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk, plain yoghurt, meat, fish, pulses, grains, plain pasta, nuts without added salt or sugar, tea and coffee. They may be washed, frozen, dried, pasteurised or packaged, but nothing like salt, sugar or oil is added.
Group 2, processed culinary ingredients: things you cook with, such as oils, butter, sugar, honey and salt.
Group 3, processed foods: relatively simple products made by adding group 2 ingredients to group 1 foods. Examples include tinned vegetables in brine, cheese, ham and bacon, and most freshly baked breads.
Group 4, ultra-processed foods: industrial formulations, usually with many ingredients, including substances rarely used in home cooking and additives such as flavourings, emulsifiers, colours or sweeteners. Examples include soft drinks, packaged snacks, mass-produced packaged bread, many breakfast cereals, and reconstituted meat products.

Those examples come from the NOVA researchers' own descriptions, as set out in SACN's review. They are broad. SACN noted that the lists of example products were not necessarily written with the UK market in mind.

What the evidence on ultra-processed food says

In the UK, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) advises government on diet. It published a position statement on processed foods and health in 2023, and a rapid evidence update in April 2025.

SACN's 2025 update described the association between eating more ultra-processed food and poorer health outcomes as concerning. The reviews SACN considered looked at outcomes including overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression and early death. That is worth taking seriously.

What it does not say yet

Most of this research is observational. It shows patterns in what people eat and how their health changes, which is not the same as proving cause and effect. SACN noted that some confounding is likely to remain even after researchers adjust for other factors.

It is also unclear how much of the link is explained by things we already know matter. Many ultra-processed foods are high in energy, saturated fat, salt or free sugars, and low in fibre. SACN said it remains unclear to what extent the associations are explained by those established links, rather than by processing itself.

There are concerns about NOVA, too. In one study cited by SACN, food and nutrition specialists often disagreed about which group a product belonged in. Other studies found better agreement among trained coders. And the group is wide: SACN pointed out it includes foods often regarded as nutritious, such as fortified foods, lower-fat yoghurts and higher-fibre breakfast cereals.

The Food Standards Agency puts it simply. There is no universally agreed definition, and we still do not know whether these foods are linked with poorer health because of how they are made.

Where UK advice stands

SACN reiterated its existing advice: most people are likely to benefit from eating fewer processed foods that are high in energy, saturated fat, salt and free sugars. It said it will keep the topic under annual review and consider it again in 2026.

Practical ways to use NOVA without worry

Treat the processing level as one clue, alongside the nutrition table, the ingredients and how often you eat something.
Compare within a type of food. Two loaves of bread or two yoghurts can differ a lot in both processing and nutrition.
Notice the foods you eat most often. Small changes to everyday staples tend to matter more than an occasional treat.
Cook from simple ingredients when it suits you, without guilt on the days it does not.
If you have a health condition, talk to your GP or a registered dietitian before making big changes to how you eat.

Ultra-processed is a description, not a judgement on you or your shopping. Convenience food has a real place in busy lives, and the aim is a varied diet you can keep up.

A practical next step

Pick one product you buy every week and read its ingredients list with the NOVA groups in mind. If you would like a hand, Vitababy is free on iPhone and Android. Scanning a barcode shows the processing level (NOVA) next to the nutrition per 100 g and the ingredients, and you can add anything you prefer to avoid, such as sweeteners or artificial colours, to a list that is spotted under their other names too.

Sources

SACN, Processed foods and health: SACN's rapid evidence update (April 2025): gov.uk/government/publications/processed-foods-and-health-sacns-rapid-evidence-update
SACN, Position statement on processed foods and health (July 2023), published on GOV.UK
Food Standards Agency, Ultra-processed foods (February 2025): gov.uk/government/publications/ultra-processed-foods
Monteiro CA et al. (2019), Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them, Public Health Nutrition 22(5): 936–941, doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003762
Monteiro CA et al. (2016), NOVA. The star shines bright, World Nutrition 7(1–3): 28–38

FAQ

Is there an official UK definition of ultra-processed food?

No. The FSA says there is no single, universally agreed definition. NOVA is the system most often used in research, and SACN focused on it in its reviews.

Should I cut out all ultra-processed food?

UK advisers have not recommended that. SACN reiterated its existing advice, which is that most people are likely to benefit from eating fewer processed foods that are high in energy, saturated fat, salt and free sugars.

How can I tell if a food is ultra-processed?

A common rule of thumb from the NOVA researchers is to look for ingredients you would not usually find in a home kitchen, such as emulsifiers, flavourings, sweeteners or modified starches. Specialists do not always agree on edge cases, so treat it as a guide.