The NOVA system is a food classification system based on the degree and purpose of industrial food processing. NOVA, which introduced ‘ultra-processed’ as a food category, has been widely employed within the research community, and is increasingly used by national governments, international organisations, and civil society.
Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are defined as formulations of food-derived substances (e.g., fats, sugars, starch, protein isolate) that contain little if any whole food and include classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing (‘cosmetic additives’), like colours, flavours, and emulsifiers.
The impact of the production and consumption of ultra-processed foods on human and planetary health has been acknowledged and has started to gather global attention more recently. Because UPFs have become dominant components in diets of populations worldwide, there is an urgent need to scrutinise the human health, sustainability, and food environment impacts across a range of populations and country contexts and to understand the implications of their consumption for health inequalities.
This Research Topic aims to showcase original research articles, reviews, methods articles, and policy reviews on the impact of ultra-processed foods on health, inequalities, sustainability, and the food environment. We welcome evidence-based studies, original research, meta-analysis and reviews of ultra-processed foods, human health, inequality, and food environment. We will also include studies addressing possible mechanisms of action, such as metabolic mechanisms.
The specific themes that could be addressed are:
● Tools to evaluate the consumption of ultra-processed foods in the population
● Relationships between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and markers of health status
● Ultra-processed foods and nutritional labelling
● Impacts of ultra-processed foods on food environments
● Impacts of ultra-processed foods on sustainability
● Relationships between consumption of ultra-processed foods and social determinants
● Corporate Political Activity of the ultra-processed food industry
The NOVA system is a food classification system based on the degree and purpose of industrial food processing. NOVA, which introduced ‘ultra-processed’ as a food category, has been widely employed within the research community, and is increasingly used by national governments, international organisations, and civil society.
Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are defined as formulations of food-derived substances (e.g., fats, sugars, starch, protein isolate) that contain little if any whole food and include classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing (‘cosmetic additives’), like colours, flavours, and emulsifiers.
The impact of the production and consumption of ultra-processed foods on human and planetary health has been acknowledged and has started to gather global attention more recently. Because UPFs have become dominant components in diets of populations worldwide, there is an urgent need to scrutinise the human health, sustainability, and food environment impacts across a range of populations and country contexts and to understand the implications of their consumption for health inequalities.
This Research Topic aims to showcase original research articles, reviews, methods articles, and policy reviews on the impact of ultra-processed foods on health, inequalities, sustainability, and the food environment. We welcome evidence-based studies, original research, meta-analysis and reviews of ultra-processed foods, human health, inequality, and food environment. We will also include studies addressing possible mechanisms of action, such as metabolic mechanisms.
The specific themes that could be addressed are:
● Tools to evaluate the consumption of ultra-processed foods in the population
● Relationships between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and markers of health status
● Ultra-processed foods and nutritional labelling
● Impacts of ultra-processed foods on food environments
● Impacts of ultra-processed foods on sustainability
● Relationships between consumption of ultra-processed foods and social determinants
● Corporate Political Activity of the ultra-processed food industry