ArticleObesity science & practice2023
Ultra-processed foods: Processing versus formulation.
Article in Obesity science & practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Evidence on the Role of Ready-to-Eat Cereals in Diet and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Nutritional Variation Among Foods Included in an Ecuadorian Food Composition Database Using Multivariate Analysis.Nutrients · 2026Article
- The Purpose of Food Processing and Ultra-Processed Food: the Potential, Pitfalls and Path Forward for Public Health.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- Guiding Principles for Science-Based Food Classification Systems Focused on Processing and Formulation.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- The Future of Food Processing-A Food Science and Technology Perspective. Proceedings of a Roundtable Event.Nutrition bulletin · 2026Article
- From scarcity to ultra-processed foods: a conceptual analysis of how their properties interact with characteristics of food intake regulation mechanism.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Multivariate characterization of the nutritional diversity of traditional Ecuadorian foods.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Metabolic Dysfunction: A Narrative Review of Dietary Processing, Behavioral Drivers and Chronic Disease Risk.Metabolites · 2025Review
- The Effect of Eating Rate of Ultra-Processed Foods on Dietary Intake, Eating Behaviour, Body Composition and Metabolic Responses-Rationale, Design and Outcomes of the Restructure Randomised Controlled Trial.Nutrition bulletin · 2025Article
- Nova fails to appreciate the value of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives in the diet.Journal of food science · 2025Review
- Consumer Awareness, Perceptions and Avoidance of Ultra-Processed Foods: A Study of UK Adults in 2024.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Precision Food Composition Data as a Tool to Decipher the Riddle of Ultra-Processed Foods and Nutritional Quality.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Toward a science-based classification of processed foods to support meaningful research and effective health policies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- From dearth to excess: the rise of obesity in an ultra-processed food system.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- Ultra-processed foods: Processing versus formulation.Obesity science & practice · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The four-tiered NOVA food classification defines foods based on their degree of processing and ranges from native unprocessed foods to so-called "ultra-processed" foods. Recent publications have suggested that foods classified as ultra-processed are unhealthy and contribute to the obesity epidemic. It is important to distinguish between formulation and processing of a food. In most cases it is the formulation more than the processing that results in foods that are not recommended as part of a healthy diet. Such "ultra-formulated" foods are unhealthy because they are high in added sugar and other caloric sweeteners, refined flours saturated fats and salt to increase palatability. The understanding that processing and formulation are distinct will assist health professionals in identifying the types of foods that are unhealthy and contribute to overconsumption and obesity. It furthermore will help to destigmatize food technology and promote discussions amongst health professionals, food scientists, corporate scientists, government officials and the general public. Novel food processing techniques are urgently needed in times of population growth, climate change and war-induced food shortages.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.