Table 1.

Overview of studies selected for present review (n = 9).

Author (Year)	Language of Publication	Objective of Study	Denomination and Description of Dietary Component Evaluated
Conceição et al., (2018) [19]	English	Evaluate whether intake of macronutrients and micronutrients and blood pressure (BP) levels are associated with degree of food processing	PFs: Salt, sugar or other substance of culinary use added to the food in natura or minimally processed (roasted biscuit; mozzarella; salted bread; whole grain bread; Minas cheese; toast). UPFs: essentially industrial food, ready to eat, multi-ingredient products involving multiple steps and processing techniques (chocolate; normal and whole grain salt and water crackers; corn starch and polvilho crackers; pasta with tomato sauce; margarine; light margarine; instant powder for porridge; cream cheese; salami; artificial strawberry and grape juices.
Martinez-Peres et al., (2021) [24]	English	Assess the impact of the food classification system on the association between the consumption of UPFs and cardiometabolic health using the same dataset.	UPFs: article followed description proposed by Monteiro et al., (2018) [25], Monteiro et al., (2011) [26], Monteiro et al., (2016) [27].
Mendonça et al., (2017) [1]	English	Evaluate potential association between consumption of UPFs and risk of AH	AUPs: carbonated drinks, processed meat, biscuits, cookies, candy, confectionery, ‘instant’ packaged soups and noodles, sweet or savory packaged snacks, and sugared milk and fruit drinks. Article followed description proposed by Monteiro et al., (2010), Monteiro et al., (2016), Moubarac et al., (2014) [5,27,28].
Monge et al., (2021) [23]	English	Estimate association between incidence of AH and consumption of UPFs (liquids and solids) as well as subgroups of UPFs	UPFs: industrial formulations with multiple ingredients that are usually not used for cooking (like food additives), such as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), packed snacks and candies. The UPFs were classified into subgroups dairy products (yogurt, ice cream, petite suisse, Yakult), added fats (cream, margarine, cream cheese), sugary products (jello, flan, sweet breads, cakes, cookies, candies, chocolate, honey, jelly and fruit paste candy), SSB (soya milk, orange juice, soda, flavored water), alcoholic beverages, processed meats (bacon, sausage, ham, chorizo, longaniza (a spicy pork sausage) and other deli meats), cereals (processed oats, low- and high-fiber breakfast cereals, cereal bars, white and whole-grain loaf of bread), salty snacks (chips and saltines) and fast food (burgers, hotdogs, pizza, tortas).
Nardocci et al., (2020) [3]	English	Evaluate associations between consumption of UPFs and obesity, diabetes, AH and heart disease	UPFs: article followed description proposed by Moubarac et al., (2017) for UPFs [29].
Rezende-Alves el at., (2020) [2]	English	Analyze association between consumption of foods according to degree of processing and incidence of AH	PFs and UPFs: complete list of PFs and UPFs in supplementary material of article by Rezende-Alves et al., (2020) based on description proposed by Monteiro et al., (2018) [25].
Scaranni et al., (2021) [20]	English	Estimate changes in BP and incidence of AH associated with consumption of UPFs in adults	UPFs: According to Monteiro et al., (2016) [27].
Smiljanec et al., (2020) [21]	English	Investigate association between consumption of UPFs/in natura/minimally processed foods and peripheral/central BP	UPFs: breakfast cereals, packaged bread, flavored yogurt and dairy products, half and half, lactose-free milk, milk alternatives, packaged sliced, processed, and creamed cheese, processed meats, meat alternatives, packaged (instant) soups and noodles, pasta sauces, ready-to-eat frozen dishes, condiments, sweet or salty packaged snacks, ice cream, confectionery, sugar-sweetened beverages, hard liquor). Cheese and dried, cured, or smoked meats were included in the UPFs category as they contain additives such as colors, preservatives, and stabilizers.
Steele et al., (2019) [22]	English	Examine association between participation of UPFs in diet and metabolic syndrome	UPFs: Article followed description by Monteiro et al., (2019) and Martinez Steele et al., (2016) for PFs and UPFs [8,30].

Data reported as mean of AH, arterial hypertension; PFs, processed foods; UPFs, ultra-processed foods; BP, blood pressure.