Ultra-processed foods are everywhere, but most people don’t fully know what the term means. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we start from the beginning: how the modern ultra-processed food concept emerged, why it was created, and how the NOVA classification system defines ultra-processed foods today.

In this episode

• The history behind processed foods
• What “ultra-processed” means
• The modern origin of the term and why researchers introduced it
• NOVA 101: the four groups and what makes a food ultra-processed

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References mentioned in the episode

• Monteiro, CA. (2009). Nutrition and health. The issue is not food, nor nutrients, so much as processing. Public Health Nutrition.

• Monteiro, CA., et al. (2010). Increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods and likely impact on human health: evidence from Brazil. Public Health Nutrition.

• Monteiro, CA., et al. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition.
• Braesco, V et al. (2022). Ultra-processed foods: how functional is the NOVA system? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
• Sadler, CR., et al. (2022). Processed food classification: conceptualisation and challenges in practice. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
• da Silva, JT., et al. (2025). Defining ultra-processed foods: a systematic review of classification systems and operational definitions.
• United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Department of Agriculture. (2025). Ultra-Processed Foods: Request for Information. Federal Register.
• Health Canada. (2022). Limit highly processed foods. Canada’s Food Guide.