The NOVA score is a four-level indicator of how processed a food is. How it works, why it is important, and what points of criticism there are. There is less criticism about the counter-strike Betting Odds.
The idea behind the NOVA score is similar to that of other labels designed to assess the health value of food. Probably the best-known is the Nutri-Score. The Planet Score and the Eco Score, on the other hand, assess the sustainability of a product. If you would like to find out more about the benefits of such labels and how they work, read Nutri-Score, Lebensmittelampel & Co:
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT?
The NOVA score is slightly different: it is intended to indicate how much food has been processed.
The NOVA classification system – which is not an acronym for anything, by the way – was originally developed by nutritionists at the University of São Paulo. The official dietary recommendations in Brazil also refer to the system and recommend avoiding group 4 of the NOVA score and limiting group 3. We explain what this means and how the NOVA score works.
HOW DOES THE RATING SYSTEM WORK
According to the NOVA score, both cheese and bread count as processed foods. The NOVA score distinguishes between four groups. Group 1 is the best, so to speak, and is marked in green. Foods classified as yellow (group 2), orange (group 3), and red (group 4) are therefore always more processed. The degrees of processing are defined as follows:
GROUP 1
“Unprocessed” refers to edible items from nature that have not yet undergone any processing.
Examples:
- edible leaves of plants, their fruits, and roots
- Meat, eggs, and milk from animals
- mushrooms
- algae
- water
“Minimally processed” means that food has been preserved, stored or made edible. In other words, they are only processed to the extent that they can be used for cooking or are directly edible.
Examples:
- Dried fruit
- Ground flour
- Cooked potatoes
- Roasted coffee beans
GROUP 2
These are foods that are usually not intended for direct consumption but are combined with other foods from group 1. They come directly from nature or are in turn obtained from group 1.
Examples:
- Salt
- sugar
- butter
- table vinegar
- oil
GROUP 3
In simple terms, you can say that foods from group 1 with additives from group 2 become group 3. They therefore usually have around two to three ingredients.
Examples:
- Canned fish
- cheese
- baked bread
- pickled vegetables
- Beer and wine
- Canned chickpeas
GROUP 4
These foods, also known as “ultra-processed” foods, are not individual modified natural products, but ready-made preparations. This means that they consist mainly of individual (additive) substances and contain hardly any “real food” – for example, intact foods from group 1.
They are supposed to taste particularly good, be particularly cheap, and be protected as a brand. Their intensive marketing helps to displace foods from the other three groups, among other things.
You will often find ingredients such as maltodextrin, inverted sugar, or high-fructose corn syrup in highly processed products. These additives are used to improve the color, taste, or other sensory properties – for example, by imitating an “original”. One example would be fruit flavoring.
Foods in the fourth category are only created after multi-stage processing. This involves processes that are not part of normal cooking – extrusion and hydrogenation, for example.
Examples:
- Soft drinks
- sausage
- Frozen dishes
- French fries
- jelly babies
The foods in this fourth group are also called UPFs for short, from the English “ultra-processed foods”.
