Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are having a moment. They’re splashed across headlines and hotly debated in research circles. But here’s the problem – there isn’t an agreed scientific definition yet and confusion abounds.

At their core, UPFs are really just what dietitians have long called discretionary foods — those nutrient-poor, energy-dense “sometimes” foods that make it easy to overeat and crowd out the good stuff. Soft drinks, packaged pastries, salty snacks — sure, those are obvious. But beyond the no-brainers lies a huge grey zone.

And the truth is, not all UPFs are necessarily bad, and some might even help tackle big challenges like reducing food waste or feeding a growing global population. Meanwhile, plenty of foods that don’t qualify as UPFs — think flaky croissants or heavily salted cured meats — aren’t exactly the pinnacle of health.

That’s why, while the term “ultra-processed” resonates with consumers and the NOVA classification system¹ that popularised it is a useful starting point, it’s far from perfect.

What NOVA Actually Says

NOVA sorts foods into four groups based on processing:

1. Unprocessed or minimally processed – fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk, grains
2. Processed culinary ingredients – oils, butter, sugar, salt
3. Processed foods – cheese, canned veg, sourdough
4. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) – packaged snacks, sugary drinks, many ready-meals

It’s a neat framework — but reality is messier.

Processing isn’t always the villain

Food processing simply means anything we do to a food after harvesting or milking: washing, cutting, grinding, freezing, fermenting, cooking and so on. By that definition, your morning coffee and tonight’s roast dinner are “processed.”

Many traditional processing methods actually improve nutrition, safety, and flavour. Think kimchi, yoghurt, cheese, tinned tomatoes, or frozen berries. All processed, all wonderful And where would our tastebuds and joy of food be without the world’s fabulously creative chefs?

I agree that there are problems with ultra-processing: foods formulated mostly from already heavily processed ingredients like refined starches, added extracted sugars, isolated proteins, and artificial additives, often with little resemblance to the whole foods they came from. These products are designed to be hyper-palatable and long-lasting but typically deliver lots of kilojoules with few nutrients and displace more wholesome foods. These are the foods that the NOVA system are trying to identify and what is clear is that we must stop calling ‘processed foods’ bad. The trouble lies in the grey area between processed and ultra-processed foods. And even researchers publishing papers on the impact of UPFs are hazy on this.

Where NOVA Trips Up

While NOVA does a good job to focus on those category 4 UPFs, it doesn’t tell us anything about the healthfulness or otherwise of foods in categories 1-3.

Cooking oils are a great example.  In NOVA, every oil is Group 2. That means extra virgin olive oil — the cold-pressed juice of fresh olives, brimming with phytonutrients with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential — sits beside highly refined seed oils extracted with chemical solvents, high heat and/or pressure. That’s like lumping hand-crafted wholegrain sourdough with mass market white bread devoid of fibre. To be clear seed oils and white bread are not devil foods, as often portrayed in media, but they certainly lack the broader health benefits of those traditionally produced and consumed foods.

Let’s stop placing extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) into a generic “fats and oils” bucket. EVOO is minimally processed — simply olives mechanically pressed to release their natural oil — and is one of the most studied, health-promoting foods on the planet.

Decades of research show regular EVOO intake lowers cardiovascular risk², reduces inflammation³, supports brain health⁴, and even nourishes the gut microbiome⁵. Two to three tablespoons a day is linked to significant health benefits.

What Really Matters: Type, Purpose and Context

Rather than a rigid label, think about:

• Type of processing – mechanical (grinding, pressing) vs. chemical or extreme refining
• Purpose – preserving nutrients, enhancing flavour, making food safer vs. merely making it more profitable
• Context – a drizzle of EVOO on a salad vs. a highly refined oil hidden in a packaged pastry

This lens lets us embrace healthy processing while keeping ultra-processed “discretionary” foods in check.

The Bottom Line

Processing isn’t the enemy. It’s how we’ve made food edible, safe, and delicious for thousands of years. What matters is how a food is processed and how it fits into your overall diet.

So:

• Celebrate traditional processing like fermenting, freezing and cooking, along with more modern, clever food preservation techniques like freeze drying and canning.
• Keep ultra-processed, nutrient-poor foods to a minimum. A packet of corn chips is clearly not the same as munching on a BBQ cob of corn.
• And give extra virgin olive oil the hero status it deserves — a shining example of minimal processing done right.

Because the goal isn’t to fear processing. It’s to eat well, with joy and common sense — and maybe a generous drizzle of EVOO.

Dr Joanna McMillan is a PhD-qualified nutrition scientist, dietitian, and lover of real food and good science. She believes eating well should be joyful, evidence-based, and most definitely delicious.

Published 16/10/2025

View article references