Research paper
Monteiro CA, Cannon G, Levy RB, Moubarac JC, Louzada MLC, Rauber F, Khandpur N, Cediel G, Neri D, Martinez-Steele E, Baraldi LG, Jaime PC. Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition. 2019;22(5):936-941. doi:10.1017/S1368980018003762
Why we cite it
A commentary — its abstract’s first words are ”The present commentary contains a clear and simple guide designed to identify ultra-processed foods” (corrected 2026-09-19: the words quoted here until then, ”this commentary offers guidance”, are the library’s restatement, not the paper) — giving the practical method for identifying ultra-processed foods within the NOVA framework (register corrected 2026-09-02, card 6NM98H: this section called it ”the authoritative practical guide”). *It is the framework’s own authors explaining how to apply their classification, which is the best possible source for what NOVA means and not a source for whether NOVA predicts anything.* For that, see `cho07` — and note there that the correlation runs through an index its authors designed for that paper. The commentary defines all four NOVA groups, lists the specific industrial ingredients and cosmetic additives that mark a product as ultra-processed, and offers a simple label-reading method that makes the classification usable by researchers, policymakers, and consumers. (Sentence repaired 2026-09-19: an earlier insertion had left this clause attached to the `cho07` note.)