UK FSA Dropped 'Ultraprocessed Food' in 2025 Guidance as Article Challenges 2009 Nova Concept
Updated
Updated · Slate · Jul 12
UK FSA Dropped 'Ultraprocessed Food' in 2025 Guidance as Article Challenges 2009 Nova Concept
2 articles · Updated · Slate · Jul 12
Summary
The critique argues the “ultraprocessed food” label is too vague to guide policy, highlighting that the U.K. Food Standards Agency dropped the term from its 2025 dietary guidance.
The article says most UPF research relies on the 2009 Nova system, which classifies foods by subjective traits rather than measuring how much processing they actually undergo.
Observational studies linking UPFs to diseases dominate headlines, it says, while randomized trials have found limited harms—at most a few pounds of weight gain on 100% UPF diets, and even that remains disputed.
A recent Science paper cited in the article argues those trial effects may reflect higher energy density and other diet differences, not processing itself.
The FSA instead advised people to cut saturated fat, sugar and salt and eat more vegetables and fibre, underscoring a shift from processing labels toward overall diet quality.