Rethinking the application and adoption of NOVA classification in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): a Southeast Asian food systems perspective.

C Jeyakumar Henry, M Aman Wirakartakusumah, E-Siong Tee, Purwiyatno Hariyadi

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Review in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

C Jeyakumar HenryConsultant, Global Centre for Asian women's health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117549, Singapore. henrykumar39@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1602-0140

M Aman WirakartakusumahIPMI Institute and SEAFAST Centre, IPB University, Jakarta, Indonesia.

E-Siong TeeTES NutriHealth Strategic Consultancy, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Purwiyatno HariyadiDivision of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ultra-processed foods have increasingly been associated with chronic disease risk in global analyses. The NOVA classification is positioned to influence dietary guidelines, food manufacturing, and public health policy worldwide. This paper argues that the NOVA classification, when applied without contextual adaptation, may be inappropriate for Southeast Asian food systems. It could misdirect policy interventions aimed at addressing both the double burden of under- and overnutrition. By labelling foods as UPFs, NOVA may obscure the essential role that certain processed foods play in improving nutritional outcomes and advancing public health. An overemphasis on the negative impact of processed and ultra-processed foods risks oversimplifying complex dietary patterns in Asia and other LMICs. It may also undermine nutritional gains achieved over the past four decades.

Identifiers

PMID42934413

DOI10.1038/s41538-025-00395-x

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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.