What are Ultra‑Processed Foods?
UPF’s are industrially formulated products made mostly from refined ingredients (starches, sugars, oils, protein isolates) plus additives such as flavourings, colourings, sweeteners and emulsifiers, with little or no intact whole food. They usually have long ingredient lists and textures/flavours you can’t easily recreate in a home kitchen.
*The NOVA food classification system was introduced with an aim to help policymakers, researchers, health professionals, journalists and consumers identify ultra-processed foods to inform policies, study diets, provide advice, shape media coverage, and guide smarter shopping and label-reading.
There’s plenty of debate about how useful NOVA is and how consistently it identifies UPFs, one major flaw of this system is that it ignores the nutrient composition of the food product and their positive impact on health.
I’m using it here purely as a practical guide to separate different levels of processing, because as of yet there isn’t a single agreed, precise definition of what counts as an ultra‑processed food.
NOVA classifies foods into one of four food groups based on the extent and purpose of the processing they have undergone.
NOVA Group 1 – Unprocessed & Minimally Processed Foods
These are foods in their natural form, or ones that have only been lightly processed to make them safer, last longer, or easier to cook.
- Includes: fresh, frozen or dried fruit and vegetables, grains (oats, brown rice/white rice/quinoa), potatoes, beans and lentils, plain nuts and seeds, plain milk, plain fresh/frozen meat, fish, seafood, eggs, plain tofu, tempeh, edamame.
- Processes used: washing, cutting, drying, freezing, grinding, roasting, boiling, pasteurising, fermenting (like plain yogurt), basic packaging.
- Key point: nothing is added, no sugar, salt, oils or flavourings. The goal is storage and practicality, not changing the nutritional profile.
NOVA Group 2 – Processed Culinary Ingredients
These are ingredients made from Group 1 foods or from nature that you use in cooking, not foods you usually eat on their own.
- Includes: oils (olive, rapeseed, sunflower), butter, lard, sugar, honey, maple syrup, salt, starches.
- Processes used: pressing, milling, refining, extracting, evaporating, mining.
- Key point: they are concentrated sources of fat, sugar, or salt that make food taste good and help with cooking.
Nova Group 3 – Processed Foods
These are simple products made by combining Group 1 foods with small amounts of Group 2 ingredients, often to preserve them or make them more palatable.
- Includes: tinned tomatoes, canned fish in oil or brine, cheese, plain breads, simple yogurts with a bit of sugar, some jarred veg, some ham.
- Processes used: canning, bottling, salting, sugaring, basic fermentation (bread, cheese, yogurt).
- Key point: the purpose is preservation and palatability making real foods last longer and taste better not to create an entirely new “fake” food.
NOVA Group 4 – (Ultra‑Processed Foods)
These are industrial formulations made mostly from ingredients you wouldn’t use in a home kitchen, rather than from whole foods.
- They are created by breaking whole foods down into parts (sugars, refined oils, starches, protein isolates), chemically modifying some of them, then re‑assembling them with cosmetic additives like flavours, colours, sweeteners, emulsifiers and thickeners to make products that are very tasty, convenient and long‑lasting.
- Typical examples include soft drinks, packaged sweets and chocolates, crisps and snack foods, many breakfast cereals, mass‑produced packaged breads and cakes, instant noodles and soups, frozen pizzas and ready meals, and reconstituted meat products like nuggets or hot dogs.
UPF is typically high energy density, high in fat, sugar and salt, low nutritional value and are hyperpalatable. All together, they are energy-dense, high in unhealthy types of fat, refined starches, free sugars and salt, and poor sources of protein, dietary fibre and micronutrients.
Health Impact of UPF’s
Research on UPF’s and health impact has shown an association to higher daily intakes of UPF and potential increased risks of cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. However there has been no randomised cross over design study carried out that determines if UPF’s cause an increased risk of ill health. Studies carried out on UPF’s are large, observational studies that follow people over a long period of time to spot patterns between UPF intake and health risks. They find associations, but can’t prove UPFs alone are a direct cause of health problems, and often don’t take into account factors such as over all diet quality, lifestyle clustering (people who eat unhealthier are more likely to do less exercise, more smoking/alcohol, poor sleep, high stress).
Some foods that are classed as UPF’s can contribute to a healthy diet (e.g. prepackaged wholegrain breads, pasta sauces, instant oats, tinned baked beans, unsweetened plant based milks) and also support training and performance (e.g. sports products).
What does the research say on health outcomes in athletes
There has only been one small study carried out looking at the intake of UPF’s and athletes and their impact on health and performance. A study of 17 elite Croatian male basketball players found that those with higher ultra-processed food (UPF) intake (35% of group) showed no differences in body composition, strength, power, or cardio fitness compared to low-UPF eaters during competition season (Hadžić E et al 2024).
However, higher UPF’s consumers had less diverse gut bacteria. There are no large-scale, long-term studies that specifically examine sports products (gels, bars, drinks) and their direct impact on athlete health outcomes like chronic disease, injury rates, or metabolic markers.
UPF and Athletes
Sports products like gels, sports drinks, chews, bars, drinks, recovery shakes, protein powders etc are classified as UPF’s where consuming everyday foods is impractical. They are designed specifically to help you get the most out of your training and recovery. Sports drinks, gels and chews have strong evidence to support that they optimise the delivery of glucose to your body to sustain energy and delay fatigue and minimise stomach issues, they are also easy to digest, highly practical to consume and portable. As opposed to trying to get down 90g of carbs from 3 x bananas, you can choose 2 x 45g gels instead.
Additionally UPF’s are consumed in races at aid stations (e.g. instant noodles, coke, crisps, salted nuts) and long days out when out on the hill (e.g. cereal bars, salted nuts, jelly sweets, chocolate bars).
How to Identify an UPF
The first step is to help you identify what UPF’s are ok to include in your diet and which ones to limit/avoid in your daily diet.
If you consume sports products (gels, drinks, chews, bars), cereal bars, jelly sweets etc during your training/races/mountain days then this is ok.
- Look at what you’ve picked up in the supermarket, what is it? Most of the time we can come back to common sense to determine if the food we have in our hand is ultra processed e.g. biscuits, crisps, breaded chicken, frozen pizza, roasted/salted nuts.
Ultra processed foods tend to come wrapped in bright/eye-catching packaging with bold print. Minimally processed foods tend to be packaged in plain, less eye-catching packaging with a clear label on what the food product is.
2) Look at the packaging, is it wildly bright in colour? How less or more like whole/real food does it look, how processed does it look? e.g. chocolate cereal vs weetabix, yoghurt with flavouring/or sprinkles for a topping vs plain greek or skyr yoghurt, cereal bar with oats/nuts/dried fruit vs one covered in chocolate or yoghurt.
3) Where it gets confusing is is products like breads, sauces, cereals, yoghurts, cereal bars, crackers, and products labelled with ‘protein’, here, the label helps:
- Breads: Check if the ingredients list goes beyond flour, water, yeast, salt
- Sauces: Tomato-based ones with just tomatoes, water, salt, herbs are fine; avoid if loaded with sugar syrups, thickeners, modified starches or flavour enhancers
- Cereals: Look for whole grains/oats first with <5g sugar/100g and minimal additives; skip if high sugar, multiple sweeteners, colours or long preservatives list
- Yoghurts: Plain or lightly flavoured with live cultures, milk, maybe fruit is good; UPF if packed with sugar, thickeners, stabilisers or artificial sweeteners
- Cereal bars: Whole oats/nuts/fruits bound simply is OK; avoid if rice/flour crisps, syrups, protein isolates, emulsifiers or 10+ ingredients dominate
- Crackers: Wholegrain flour/oats, salt, oil is acceptable; UPF territory with malt extract, high-fructose syrup, artificial colours or flavour enhancers
- Protein products: limit if loaded with artificial flavourings and sweeteners, gums or long additive lists and look like glorified chocolate bars (keep to around training/recovery if using them for practical purposes/convenience)
4) Home test: Ask, “Could I make something similar with 5 ingredients in my kitchen?” If no, it’s likely UPF.
Key Take – Aways:
- Processed food is not inherently bad, it’s watching out for UPF that is low in nutritional value and how often it appears in your daily nutrition.
- Not all UPFs are low in nutritional value, some can be included regularly in your daily diet.
- There is no current evidence to suggest that consuming sports products harms athletes health
- The goal is to make sure that if you do consume any UPF in your daily nutrition then they are not in place of a more healthful option that will support your training, performance and health (e.g. packet of biscuits vs yoghurt + piece of fruit)
- Now and again UPF’s such as shop bought cakes, biscuits, crisps, pastries, chocolate bars) included in your diet are ok!
If you feel like UPF’s appear to often in your daily diet and you’d like to learn how to swap these out for healthier options – sign up to my newsletter to receive a FREE worksheet and monthly nutrition advice.
