FIGURE 2.

Generalized summary of how food processing categorizations capture both formulation and processes. Ultra-processed foods are created by transforming raw agricultural commodities into a final product that successively lose identity (Food Identity, purple bar) as the extent of post-harvest food processing increases (from left to right). Nutritional value is perceived to decrease in a similar fashion (Perceived Nutritional Quality, gray bar). Blue boxes represent raw agricultural commodities or foods; green boxes foods are unprocessed or minimally processed foods that would be categorized as Nova Group 1; orange boxes represent processed foods that would be categorized as Nova Group 3; and red boxes represent foods that would be categorized as Nova Group 4, ultra-processed foods, and associated ingredients.