Who created the NOVA classification?

NOVA was developed by a team of researchers at the University of São Paulo, in Brazil, led by Carlos Augusto Monteiro. The founding paper was published in 2010 in Cadernos de Saúde Pública. In 2019, the FAO published a report written by Monteiro and his colleagues, noting that it does not validate the NOVA system.

What are the four NOVA groups?

Group 1: unprocessed or minimally processed foods (fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk). Group 2: processed culinary ingredients (oils, butter, sugar, salt). Group 3: processed foods (canned goods, cheeses, fresh bread). Group 4: ultra-processed products (sodas, snacks, ready meals), made mostly from food derivatives and additives.

Does NOVA indicate whether a product is healthy?

No. NOVA measures the degree of processing, not nutritional composition. A product can be NOVA 4 with little sugar, or not NOVA 4 and high in sugar. That is why it is read alongside the Nutri-Score, which assesses the nutritional profile.

Is the NOVA group reliable?

It is a useful but imperfect guide. ANSES considers its application subjective, as it relies on the presence of additives without distinguishing between them. In Open Food Facts, the calculation is automatic and experimental: it depends on the ingredients entered, and may be wrong or missing if the ingredient list is incomplete.

NOVA classification: the 4 groups explained

Where does NOVA come from?

NOVA is a classification of foods according to theirdegree of industrial processing. It was developed by a team of researchers at theUniversity of São Paulo(Brazil), led by Professor Carlos Augusto Monteiro. The founding paper, published in 2010 in the journal Cadernos de Saúde Pública, proposes classifying foods according to "the extent and purpose" of their processing, rather than their nutrients. This first version had three groups. The four-group version used today was refined in the following years.

In 2019, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) published a report written by Monteiro and his colleagues, devoted to ultra-processed foods and NOVA. The FAO states that the report's opinions are those of its authors and do not amount to validation of the NOVA system. Brazil has also included it in its official dietary guidelines since 2014.

The four NOVA groups

Each food is placed in one group only, from 1 (least processed) to 4 (most processed). The definitions and examples below follow the presentation by Open Food Facts, which draws on Monteiro's work.

Group 1, unprocessed or minimally processed foods: edible parts of plants or animals (fruit, vegetables, seeds, meat, eggs, milk), mushrooms, algae and water. The permitted processes aim to preserve the food or make it safer: drying, grinding, filtering, cooking, non-alcoholic fermentation, pasteurisation, freezing, vacuum packing.
Group 2, processed culinary ingredients: oils, butter, sugar, salt. They are obtained by pressing, refining, grinding or drying Group 1 foods or natural materials, and are used for seasoning and cooking, rarely eaten on their own.
Group 3, processed foods: Group 1 foods with Group 2 ingredients added, such as canned vegetables or fish, fruit in syrup, cheeses and fresh bread. They generally contain two or three ingredients and remain recognisable.
Group 4, ultra-processed products: formulations made mostly or entirely from food-derived substances and additives, with little or no whole food. Examples: sodas, sweet or savoury snacks, reconstituted meat, frozen ready meals.

How a product is classed in practice

For a packaged product, classification is based first on theingredient list, then on the known manufacturing processes. The decisive criterion for group 4 is the presence of ingredients or additives not used in home cooking.

Open Food Facts cites among the markers of group 4: colourings, flavour enhancers, sweeteners, emulsifiers, flavourings, casein, lactose, whey, hydrogenated oils, hydrolysed proteins, maltodextrin, glucose-fructose syrup. ANSES sums up the idea by referring to "so-called cosmetic additives" and substances rarely used to prepare meals at home.

In open databases, this classification is oftenautomatic. Open Food Facts calculates the NOVA group from a product's ingredients and categories, using default logic that assigns group 1 and then looks for indicators of groups 2, 3 and 4. The site notes that this calculation remains experimental and depends on the quality of the data entered: if the ingredient list is missing or incomplete, the result may be wrong or unavailable.

What NOVA measures, and what it does not

NOVA describes thenature of the processing, not nutritional composition. A product can therefore contain little sugar and still be group 4, or be high in sugar or fat without being ultra-processed, such as homemade jam or cake.

NOVA says nothing about the content of sugar, salt, saturated fat, fibre or protein.
Nor does it measure environmental impact or the quantities consumed.
It does not distinguish between additives: a harmless additive and a controversial one count in the same way.

This is what makes NOVAcomplementaryto the Nutri-Score, which rates the nutritional profile. Our comparisonAll scores compared: Nutri-Score, NOVA, Green-Scoreexplains how to combine them.

Limits and criticisms

NOVA is widely used in research, but it is debated. In its January 2025 opinion,ANSESnotes that there is no consensual definition of ultra-processed foods. It considers that NOVA, which relies on the simple presence of additives or substances without distinguishing between them, has asubjectiveapplication. It also concludes, with low weight of evidence, that higher consumption of foods classed as ultra-processed under NOVA is associated with a higher risk of mortality and chronic disease, and recommends identifying the mechanisms involved.

Other difficulties frequently cited:

Blurred boundariesbetween groups 3 and 4, for example for industrial bread or flavoured yoghurt, depending on how the ingredient list is interpreted.
Incomplete information: the exact manufacturing processes do not appear on the label.
Heterogeneous nutritional profileswithin group 4, which brings together very different products.

For details of the studies on ultra-processed foods and ANSES's position, see our articleUltra-processed foods: how to recognise them and which to avoid.

Where to find the NOVA group and how to read it

The NOVA group appears on the product pages of Open Food Facts, the open collaborative database, and in the apps that use it. To read it, remember one simple rule: the higher the number, the more processed the product.

NOVA 1: a raw or nearly raw product, such as fruit, vegetables, eggs or milk.
NOVA 2: a cooking ingredient, such as oil or sugar. It is used for cooking and is not a complete food.
NOVA 3: a simple product with few ingredients, such as a can of vegetables or a cheese.
NOVA 4: a product whose list contains ingredients or additives used industrially, such as a soda or a ready meal.

A short, recognisable ingredient list is a good sign, and our guideReading a label wellshows how to decode it. The NOVA group is one landmark among others: it is best read alongside the Nutri-Score and how often you eat the product.

NOVA in Yumiq

In Yumiq, industrial processing (NOVA) is one of the three objective indicators of the Yumiq-Score, alongside environmental impact (Green-Score) and nutritional profile (Nutri-Score). The product page displays the NOVA group with its label.

The Yumiq star is stricter: it requires a product inNOVA 1, a Green-Score of A or A+, no risky additive and at least one certified quality label. A product in NOVA 2, 3 or 4 is therefore not eligible.

Understanding the NOVA classification