Before we come to a final conclusion on this, we need to reexamine the NOVA food classification system. It holds some rather baffling contradictions. For instance, if you buy a deep fryer and a mandolin slicer to make your own potato chips at home, they're classified as processed foods. But if you buy a bag of plain potato chips (ingredients: potatoes, oil, salt) they're classified as ultra-processed.

▲

astura an hour ago | parent | next [-]

This whole concept just doesn't make sense to me - this study included peanut butter and jelly as part of the "highly processed" meal and cheese as part of the "minimally processed" meal. I don't think that either peanut butter or jelly is more processed than cheese.

	▲	virtual_void an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I suppose it's partly because it's the whole meal that is being represented and they match it for nutrients. I'd guess they wanted to include store purchased bread, hence the pb&j. The other thought i had was that most peanut butter includes (at least) palm oil (ultra processed) and sometimes other emulsifiers to prevent separation. Though you can buy pb that is just peanut and salt. The jelly would contain quite a bit more in the way of preservatives, regulators and flavour enhancers etc than the jelly i'd make at home (if i did such a thing) I'd guess it's just regular cheese which does require quite some processing to make but unless it's got extra additives to extend shelf life, change texture or taste it's just processed.

▲

virtual_void an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Would simple potato chips bought in a store be classified as ultra-processed under nova? I didn't read it that way. What in Nova would make it so?

*assuming the same ingredients as your home cooked example, which i think is your point, right?

▲

astura an hour ago | parent [-]

Group 4 considers the packaging the food comes in - "sophisticated packaging, usually with synthetic materials."

	▲	virtual_void 43 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Interesting! I guess i can see how packaging makes a difference to the desirability / convenience of the food. I guess i'm less likely to eat chips if i have to make them myself compared to grabbing a bag and more likely to over eat them if it's super convenient. Though I admit to being a bit lazy like that.