04 Jul 2024 --- The impact of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) on health and disease risk is extensively studied, with researchers presenting the latest findings at the recent International Congress on Obesity (ICO 2024) and the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition (Nutrition 2024). While one study found that UPF consumption increased the risk of death, another suggests that limiting UPFs “does not necessarily make for a healthy diet.” This leads experts to debate the validity of processing levels to determine a food’s healthiness. At ICO 2024, professor Carlos Monteiro of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, argued that UPFs are pushing aside other food groups. The creator of the NOVA classification system, which categorizes foods into four groups according to their processing level, recommended that UPFs be regulated in a similar way as tobacco, with warning labels and advertising restrictions.
