Research

Mixed

The degree of food processing (classified by NOVA or Poti systems) is not a reliable proxy for nutritional quality, as calorie- and nutrient-dense foods exist across all levels of processing.

Stop assuming that 'ultra-processed' means 'unhealthy' and 'unprocessed' means 'healthy'. Look at the Nutrition Facts table. A highly processed snack might have less sugar and more protein than a minimally processed fruit juice. Base your food choices on the actual calorie and nutrient density, not the processing label.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
These findings demonstrate that calorie- and nutrient-dense foods exist across different levels of processing, suggesting that food choices and dietary recommendations should be based primarily on energy or nutrient density rather than processing classification.
Laura Vergeer et al. · Nutrients · 2019

Why this rating

Large sample size (n=17,269), rigorous statistical adjustment for food category, and use of two distinct classification systems.

Source

The Calorie and Nutrient Density of More- Versus Less-Processed Packaged Food and Beverage Products in the Canadian Food Supply

Laura Vergeer et al. · Nutrients · 2019

DOI 10.3390/nu11112782

cross_sectional · n=17269Cited 19×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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