New 2 year project to update flawed NOVA classification
The issue of Ultra Processed Food is gaining much more prominence as people realise that simplistic differentiators, like meat versus plant-based for example, can't possibly account for how nutritious (or not) different foods are. It's a growing problem because consumers are making misinformed choices and being steered away from healthy nutritious foods towards well-marketed but less healthy alternatives.
An interesting illustration of how this is playing out in real-time can be seen in how the traditional diet in India is being rapidly supplanted by highly processed packaged products, with a concomitant surge in chronic diseases.
Starting on 1 January 2025, a two-year project led by the University of Copenhagen aims to develop a new system of food classification that takes into account nutritional content, chemical and physical components of foods and how they're digested and metabolised. It's in response to criticisms of the existing NOVA system that just looks at the extent of processing while ignoring nutritional value. Food Navigator's Donna Eastlake has the details.