ArticleThe British journal of nutrition2024
Nutrients or processing? An analysis of food and drink items from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey based on nutrient content, the NOVA classification and front of package traffic light labelling.
Article in The British journal of nutrition, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized, crossover trial.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
- Ultra-processed food consumption during pregnancy and emotional and behavioral problems in offspring.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Associations of Ultra-Processed Foods and Executive Function in Children With Obesity and Their Parents: A Cross-Sectional Study.Pediatric obesity · 2026Observational
- Are All Ultra-Processed Foods Created Equal? Descriptive Analysis of Nutritional Composition, Nutritional Quality, Energy Density and Hyperpalatability in Relation to Non-Communicable Disease Risk.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- The Purpose of Food Processing and Ultra-Processed Food: the Potential, Pitfalls and Path Forward for Public Health.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- Ultra-processed food consumption in Scotland: a nationally representative analysis of sociodemographic patterns and dietary contributions.Public health nutrition · 2026Article
- The Future of Food Processing-A Food Science and Technology Perspective. Proceedings of a Roundtable Event.Nutrition bulletin · 2026Article
- Concerns around evidence that food processing should be included in dietary guidance.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Reply to Ludwig, D. S. et al.; Robinson, E. & Forde, C. G.; Wang, Z. & Peng, C.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Food Label Readability and Consumption Frequency: Isolating Content-Specific Effects via a Non-Equivalent Dependent Variable Design.Nutrients · 2026Article
- How young adults in the United States understand and conceptualise ultra-processed foods.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- The estimated impact of mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling policies on adult obesity prevalence and obesity-related mortality in England: a modelling study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Metabolic Dysfunction: A Narrative Review of Dietary Processing, Behavioral Drivers and Chronic Disease Risk.Metabolites · 2025Review
- Review
- The UK Food Environment: A Systematic Review of Domains, Methodologies, and Outcomes.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Review
- Ultra Processed Food Consumption in Children and Adolescents: Main Food Group Contributors and Associations With Weight Status.Nutrition bulletin · 2025Article
- Beneath the Surface: The Emerging Role of Ultra-Processed Foods in Obesity-Related Cancer.Current oncology reports · 2025Review
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Dietetic Practice: Findings From a Survey and Focus Group With UK Dietitians.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Article
- Making Sense of the Relationship Between Ultra-Processed Foods, Obesity, and Other Chronic Diseases.Nutrients · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
UK front of package labelling (FOPL) informs consumers on the nutrient content of food. However, FOPL does not consider food processing, and with the UK government being urged to act on ultra-processed food (UPF), whether UPF should be added to FOPL is unclear. This study compared food and drink in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) Intake24 database based on FOPL, nutrient content and NOVA classification, to understand whether UPF are covered by dietary recommendations for foods high in fat, salt and sugar. NDNS items were coded into minimally processed food (MPF), processed culinary ingredients, processed food and UPF according to the NOVA classification and FOPL traffic lights. UPF contained greater energy, fat, saturated fat (SF), total sugar (TS) and salt than MPF. UPF had a greater odds of containing red FOPL and an unhealthier overall FOPL score (OR:4·59 (95 % CI: 3·79, 5·57); OR:7·0 (95 % CI: 6·1, 8·2), respectively) and lower odds of containing green FOPL (OR:0·05 (95 % CI: 0·03, 0·10)), compared with MPFs. For items with no red FOPL, UPF still contained greater energy, fat, SF, TS and salt than MPF. However, several UPF have healthier FOPL scores. UPF had an unhealthier nutritional profile and FOPL score than MPF. For items with no red FOPL, UPF still had an unhealthier profile than MPF, with a higher energy density. Importantly, not all UPF were unhealthy according to FOPL. These results indicate partial overlap between FOPL, nutrient content and NOVA classification of UK food and drink products, with implications for UK food and drink labelling.
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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.