There are quite a few definitions [1]. That said, they are consistently inconsistent and subjective [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-processed_food#Definitio...
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092422442...
The nova classification is really not great in my opinion because it's just a list of a few ingredients and techniques that don't happen to currently typically be used in home cooking, because that can be used as a proxy for whether the food as home cooked, and it's not actually related to the amount of processing or whether it's hyperpalatable in any sense.
If they just want to compare mass produced food to similar home cooked food in their research I think that's fine, but then it's not really an issue about whether it's "ultra-processed", and if everyone accepts that that's the definition of ultra-processed then mass produced food will simply stop using those ingredients/techniques, e.g. using sucrose instead of corn syrup (a lot of foods that people would probably accept as "ultra-processed" already do this)
By defining "ultra-processed" in this way it also seems like they have an axe to grind, because they intentionally want to exclude stuff like home-baked cakes which are clearly very highly processed and intended to be extremely palatable.
I don't really understand the point of a definition where a home baked cake is not "ultra-processed" but a store bought loaf of bread with a negligible amount of HFCS is "ultra processed" (but maybe wouldn't be if you replaced the HFCS with sucrose) unless you presuppose that all mass produced foods are less healthy than all home cooked foods, which seems like a pretty dubious assumption.
Literally everyone I know understands that processed foods are less healthy than whole foods.
Some, indeed many, choose to eat them anyway. But this isn't like smoking in the 40's with adverts claiming it's good for you.
It seems a priori obvious to me, even. Does anyone actually think that chicken nuggets and chips are as healthy as a whole roast chicken with potatoes and butter? Anyone?
We need to get past the denial to start the actual conversation.
American bread is obviously weird. It has a ridiculous shelf life.
Almond milk and all "milks" are political bullshit, it's prole feed.
And sugar, well...
I don't know. Grandma's home cooking, you know? Cake was a rare treat.
If consumers don't have it spelled out to them as obviously as possible, they won't realize. People way under estimate how calorically dense modern processed food is. It's one part of why there's an obesity epidemic basically everywhere.
Considering Heart Disease is the #1 killer in the US right now, I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to start treating these foods more like how we treat cigarettes.
