Interpretive Summary: A perspective of ultra-processed food definitions and classification challenges

By: Cody L Gifford

Implications

• Several food processing definitions and classification systems exist as frameworks to highlight general similarities by processing level.
• The NOVA (not an acronym) classification system is the most popular for categorizing ultra-processed foods.
• Definitions and NOVA classification of ultra-processed foods (UPF) may result in variable interpretation to accurately classify foods, often leading to misclassification between studies.
• Careful consideration of concentration levels for nutrients and ingredients, purpose of ingredients in food products, understanding what ‘formulation’ refers to and micronutrient density when evaluating whether food products are UPF is necessary.
• Research opportunities exist to classify meat products based on nutrient density, ingredient evaluation and relative nutrients to reduce using an enhanced classification system that has increased specificity beyond the NOVA classification framework. Further evaluation of minimally processed and further processed meat products on chronic health risk is warranted.
  

Introduction

Variability and inconsistency of adopted terminology to describe the level and degree of food processing persists. Published definitions of processing applied throughout the food industry are generally based on the degree of physical, nutritional or biochemical alteration from the original whole food, often including the inclusion of additional ingredients. Detail regarding the purpose of ingredients in food processing definitions can vary while others proposed are more specific, such as the classification of meat that has been suggested by the American Meat Science Association Lexicon (Seman et al. 2018) and the Meat Institute Guide to Meat Processing (McCullough 2025). Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are considered the classification that is associated with the most processing applied to a particular food product, however, no standard, agreed upon definition currently exists to define the threshold of a UPF.

Read the full article in Animal Frontiers: Current Topics in Meat Processing.