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Check ultra-processed food with NOVA

Chuw checks how processed a food is using the NOVA classification, lowers its score for ultra-processing (NOVA 4), and shows that as one of the reasons behind the score.

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Four groups,
from field to factory.

NOVA sorts food by how it was processed, not by its nutrients.

NOVA 1: Unprocessed or minimally processed
Foods as they come, or only cleaned, frozen, dried or pasteurised: fruit, vegetables, eggs, plain milk, oats.
NOVA 2: Processed culinary ingredients
What you cook with: oils, butter, sugar and salt.
NOVA 3: Processed foods
Group 1 foods with salt, sugar or oil added: cheese, tinned vegetables, freshly made bread.
NOVA 4: Ultra-processed foods
Industrial recipes made largely from substances extracted from foods, often with additives such as flavourings, emulsifiers or sweeteners: soft drinks, many packaged snacks.

Source: Monteiro et al. (2019), the NOVA food classification.

How to spot it on a label

Read the ingredient list. One ingredient you wouldn't find in a home kitchen is enough for NOVA to call a product ultra-processed. It names two kinds:

  1. Substances rarely used in kitchens

    Such as maltodextrin, invert sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrolysed proteins and hydrogenated oils.

  2. Additives that make a product more appealing

    Such as flavourings, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, sweeteners and thickeners.

The ‘natural flavouring’ in the crunchy muesli further down is one of them. Chuw checks this for you when you scan a product.

Processing is one reason,
not the verdict.

Four real products, scored by Chuw. The group matters, and so does everything else on the label.

  • Almond drink, NOVA 3, scores 100 out of 100 (Excellent).
  • Peanut butter, NOVA 1, scores 95 out of 100 (Excellent).
  • Crunchy muesli, NOVA 4, scores 64 out of 100 (In moderation).
  • Chilli crisps, NOVA 4, scores 45 out of 100 (Limit).

Processed can still score high. The almond drink is NOVA 3 and scores 100: its label lists water, almonds and sea salt.

Same group, 19 points apart. The muesli and the crisps are both ultra-processed. The muesli has 13.2 g of fibre per 100 g; the crisps have far more salt.

How Chuw uses NOVA

  1. It reads the group from the ingredients

    Chuw places each product in a NOVA group from its ingredient list and applies the same scoring rules to every product.

  2. Ultra-processing lowers the score

    A NOVA 4 product loses points, and the Breakdown tab lists it as a reason with how much it moved the score.

  3. Plus points count half

    For processed (NOVA 3) and ultra-processed (NOVA 4) foods, plus points such as fibre count for half, so extra points can't hide the processing. The whole score is not halved.

See how the whole score works

Good to know

Is all processed food ultra-processed?
No. NOVA has four groups. Cheese, tinned vegetables and freshly made bread are processed foods (group 3); ultra-processed foods are group 4.
Can an ultra-processed food still score well?
Within limits. The crunchy muesli is ultra-processed and scores 64 (In moderation): its fibre counts, but at half, so it can't hide the processing.
Is ultra-processed food bad for you?
Chuw doesn't use labels like “toxic”, “clean” or “bad”, and makes no health claims. It counts ultra-processing as one reason that lowers a score, next to sugar, salt, fibre and the rest, and shows how much it counted.

Read on

How to read a food label, with one real pack annotated

Check a food yourself

Scan a label and open the Breakdown tab. If the product is ultra-processed, it is listed as one of the reasons, with how much it moved the score.

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