‘Ultra-processed foods are the devil.”
That is what we are repeatedly told by the media and on our various social channels by health and wellness influencers. And there is some truth to this; heavily processed foods are part of a big problem when it comes to our nutritional health. In recent decades, obesity has become a common challenge for Irish children and adults alike.
Ultra-processed foods [UPFs] lack a clear definition but are generally foods which have gone through such extreme processing, they no longer resemble their original form. For example, a frozen or fast-food chicken nugget is considered an ultra-processed version of a chicken breast.
UPFs tend to have added ingredients, like stabilisers, preservatives and dyes. These increase shelf-life and can add to visual appeal. These foods are often tasty, snackable and, in some cases, addictive, with high levels of unhealthy fats, sodium and refined sugars.
The 2025 Voice of the Consumer report, which was published in June by multinational professional services network PwC, tells us that today’s Irish consumer is “reshaping the food landscape with evolving expectations around health, sustainability and technology”.
Surveying 1,000 Irish consumers for the report, PwC states that the health risks associated with UPFs and food safety has become a significant driver for consumers when making purchases.
In the report, 53% of respondents said they avoid UPFs, but the report also indicates that 68% are only slightly limiting their intake, if at all. Still, “high nutritional value” is within the top three overall purchasing factors for today’s Irish consumer.
NOVA scale
We are all aware of the connection between diet and overall health, and it is widely understood that a diet high in UPFs can lead to a plethora of health problems, including Type 2 Diabetes or certain cancers.
In 2009, Brazilian researchers presented the NOVA scale for processed foods. This scale goes from one (green) to four (red), with level one representing minimally processed foods (like a chicken breast) and level four representing ultra-processed foods (like packaged snacks and frozen dinners).
It’s meant to be a simple way for consumers to identify UPFs while doing their weekly shop and is widely used for current UPF classification. However, while simplicity might work for consumers in a shop, many food scientists and academics are calling for a better, more contextualised system.
This is because, as we work towards a sustainable future and attempt to solve global food problems (hunger in the global south; obesity in the wealthy west), creating nutritionally dense and affordable processed foods will, realistically, need to be part of the solution.
Simplistic approach
Eileen Gibney is a Professor of Nutrition at the School of Agriculture and Food Science and Director of the UCD Institute of Food and Health. As a nutritionist, she has a deep understanding of the ultra-processed issue and believes the NOVA classification system is too simplistic in its approach.
Professor Eileen Gibney is a
nutritionist and teaches at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.
“The way people define UPFs, at the moment, is mainly using terminology from the NOVA classification system which looks at the ingredients in the food,” she explains. “I suppose, the more ingredients described as ‘not being in your home cupboard’, the more processed a food is considered to be. It would suggest that the UPFs are [what they would call] ‘nutrient-poor’ and a lot of this comes from epidemiological evidence – [for example], studies that link heart disease or cancer to the consumption of certain things.
“The issue I have, as a nutritionist and someone who works in the area of food and health, is the context of calling certain foods UPFs,” she continues. “What they’re describing is more about the nutritional quality of the food, rather than the processing to make that food. Many UPFs are typically high in saturated fat, with added sugar and salt. Recommendations about these foods are already in our dietary guidelines and nutritional recommendations as ‘things to have in moderation’. We know they’re not everyday foods.”
Eileen says, if we go by the NOVA classification system, there are a number of so-called processed and ultra-processed foods which are actually beneficial to our health.
“For example, high-fibre fortified cereals,” she says. “A significant number of teens and children get important nutrients through breakfast cereals, and the milk they consume with them. We shouldn’t recommend they remove those from their diet.
“White sliced pan is considered a UPF, but if I made that white bread at home, it’s not. Sure, there are preservatives and different ingredients in a loaf of sliced pan, but actually, those ingredients have been put in at a level that have strong scientific evidence saying it’s ok.”
Most consumers would like regular access to homemade, artisanal products, but how realistic is this – especially as most households have two parents working full time and families everywhere are struggling financially.
“Frozen or canned foods are considered processed, but if that’s what people are eating for fruit and vegetables, I wouldn’t demonise that,” Eileen says. “I would rather work with food companies to say, ‘how can we make what’s on our shelves better?’ We absolutely need to reduce the amount of saturated fats, salt and sugar in our foods. We need to make those foods in the UPF category as good as they can be.”
Eileen isn’t the only nutritionist critical of the way we define UPFs. The science behind the ultra-processed question has been under fire for years, and it is widely agreed that the definition needs refining.
Data insights company WISEcode has developed a new classification system which could help. It uses a database of over 5,000 ingredients and 100,000 commercial foods to categorise foods into five different levels, from minimally processed to super-ultra-processed.
This new system is more detailed than the existing NOVA classification and takes a wider context into account. It also offers an app for consumers to scan products and learn more for themselves.
“There are always new kids on the block,” Eileen says. “And now, scientists are looking at new ways of defining UPFs. This terminology isn’t going away, so we need a definition which is more consistent and takes processing and nutrients into account – as well as the potential beneficial effects some processes and added ingredients can have.”
Grow what you eat
Mick Kelly is founder of the Grow It Yourself (GIY) movement, which operates out of Grow HQ – its headquarters, café and learning centre – in Co Waterford. In a recent Instagram post, Mick shared a graphic from Public Health Nutrition (a Cambridge University Press publication) which showed the percentages of UPF consumption among European states.
While the United Kingdom and Germany consume the highest percentages of UPFs, Ireland is not far behind with a consumption rate of 45.9%. Mediterranean countries, as one might expect, have significantly lower consumption rates. This frustrates Mick and his colleagues at GIY, where their goal is to encourage Irish consumers to grow more of their own food.
Mick Kelly is founder of the Grow It Yourself (GIY) movement. \ Philip Doyle
“There’s all kinds of research that says a diet high in UPFs will lead to chronic health problems,” he says. “We can nitpick about what should be in what category, but I think we all know what is good and what we should avoid.”
Mick is aware that small-scale gardening might not save the world, but it definitely has the power to change the mindset of the average consumer.
“Our apporach is to get people to grow food themselves; it’s not about self-sufficiency because that isn’t achievable for most people,” he explains. “But even if people are only growing 2% of the food they are eating, that 2% has the power to change the other 98%.
“There is research – some we have done ourselves, and there is other academic research – which shows that when people grow some of their own food, they develop different behaviours over time. They eat more locally-grown, whole foods because they are trying to find the next best thing to growing it themselves.”
GIY have seen much success with this approach, but at times Mick says it still feels like “pushing a piano up a hill” as they face competition with UPFs and big food brands.
“UPFs are incredibly compelling,” he says. “The mouthfeel, the manufacturing. They can be hard to stop eating once you start, and they are backed with huge marketing departments and celebrity endorsements. I feel like standard fruit and veg is not well placed to win that battle, but when people grow some food themselves and understand what fresh, seasonal food tastes like, that’s a lightbulb moment for a lot of people.”
GIY’s GROW At School initiative is a garden-based learning programme for primary students. It includes educational content designed collaboratively between growers and teachers to ensure measurable outcomes. So far, the programme has been rolled out in 700 schools, with 100,000 students reached.
GIY is now calling on the Government to fund a national roll-out of the GROW At School programme.
“When kids are involved in growing something, they’re more likely to try eating it,” he says.
“The idea of ‘food empathy’ is such a powerful thing – we are so disconnected from real food in every facet.
“Re-establishing that connection and getting back in touch with our food is the only way to push back.”
Ultra-prossessed foods lack a clear definition.Overeating UPF’s can lead to an increased risk in Type 2 Diabetes and certain cancers and should be consumed in moderation and mindfully.Not all UPF’s are the same. Due to the grey area in UPF classifications, some processed foods can be considered substantially nutritional.If you are concerned about your intake of UPF’s, speak to your doctor or seek professsional medical advice. Read more
A decade of equality in Irish food and drink
Spilling the tea with Maitre D'
‘Ultra-processed foods are the devil.”
That is what we are repeatedly told by the media and on our various social channels by health and wellness influencers. And there is some truth to this; heavily processed foods are part of a big problem when it comes to our nutritional health. In recent decades, obesity has become a common challenge for Irish children and adults alike.
Ultra-processed foods [UPFs] lack a clear definition but are generally foods which have gone through such extreme processing, they no longer resemble their original form. For example, a frozen or fast-food chicken nugget is considered an ultra-processed version of a chicken breast.
UPFs tend to have added ingredients, like stabilisers, preservatives and dyes. These increase shelf-life and can add to visual appeal. These foods are often tasty, snackable and, in some cases, addictive, with high levels of unhealthy fats, sodium and refined sugars.
The 2025 Voice of the Consumer report, which was published in June by multinational professional services network PwC, tells us that today’s Irish consumer is “reshaping the food landscape with evolving expectations around health, sustainability and technology”.
Surveying 1,000 Irish consumers for the report, PwC states that the health risks associated with UPFs and food safety has become a significant driver for consumers when making purchases.
In the report, 53% of respondents said they avoid UPFs, but the report also indicates that 68% are only slightly limiting their intake, if at all. Still, “high nutritional value” is within the top three overall purchasing factors for today’s Irish consumer.
NOVA scale
We are all aware of the connection between diet and overall health, and it is widely understood that a diet high in UPFs can lead to a plethora of health problems, including Type 2 Diabetes or certain cancers.
In 2009, Brazilian researchers presented the NOVA scale for processed foods. This scale goes from one (green) to four (red), with level one representing minimally processed foods (like a chicken breast) and level four representing ultra-processed foods (like packaged snacks and frozen dinners).
It’s meant to be a simple way for consumers to identify UPFs while doing their weekly shop and is widely used for current UPF classification. However, while simplicity might work for consumers in a shop, many food scientists and academics are calling for a better, more contextualised system.
This is because, as we work towards a sustainable future and attempt to solve global food problems (hunger in the global south; obesity in the wealthy west), creating nutritionally dense and affordable processed foods will, realistically, need to be part of the solution.
Simplistic approach
Eileen Gibney is a Professor of Nutrition at the School of Agriculture and Food Science and Director of the UCD Institute of Food and Health. As a nutritionist, she has a deep understanding of the ultra-processed issue and believes the NOVA classification system is too simplistic in its approach.
Professor Eileen Gibney is a
nutritionist and teaches at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.
“The way people define UPFs, at the moment, is mainly using terminology from the NOVA classification system which looks at the ingredients in the food,” she explains. “I suppose, the more ingredients described as ‘not being in your home cupboard’, the more processed a food is considered to be. It would suggest that the UPFs are [what they would call] ‘nutrient-poor’ and a lot of this comes from epidemiological evidence – [for example], studies that link heart disease or cancer to the consumption of certain things.
“The issue I have, as a nutritionist and someone who works in the area of food and health, is the context of calling certain foods UPFs,” she continues. “What they’re describing is more about the nutritional quality of the food, rather than the processing to make that food. Many UPFs are typically high in saturated fat, with added sugar and salt. Recommendations about these foods are already in our dietary guidelines and nutritional recommendations as ‘things to have in moderation’. We know they’re not everyday foods.”
Eileen says, if we go by the NOVA classification system, there are a number of so-called processed and ultra-processed foods which are actually beneficial to our health.
“For example, high-fibre fortified cereals,” she says. “A significant number of teens and children get important nutrients through breakfast cereals, and the milk they consume with them. We shouldn’t recommend they remove those from their diet.
“White sliced pan is considered a UPF, but if I made that white bread at home, it’s not. Sure, there are preservatives and different ingredients in a loaf of sliced pan, but actually, those ingredients have been put in at a level that have strong scientific evidence saying it’s ok.”
Most consumers would like regular access to homemade, artisanal products, but how realistic is this – especially as most households have two parents working full time and families everywhere are struggling financially.
“Frozen or canned foods are considered processed, but if that’s what people are eating for fruit and vegetables, I wouldn’t demonise that,” Eileen says. “I would rather work with food companies to say, ‘how can we make what’s on our shelves better?’ We absolutely need to reduce the amount of saturated fats, salt and sugar in our foods. We need to make those foods in the UPF category as good as they can be.”
Eileen isn’t the only nutritionist critical of the way we define UPFs. The science behind the ultra-processed question has been under fire for years, and it is widely agreed that the definition needs refining.
Data insights company WISEcode has developed a new classification system which could help. It uses a database of over 5,000 ingredients and 100,000 commercial foods to categorise foods into five different levels, from minimally processed to super-ultra-processed.
This new system is more detailed than the existing NOVA classification and takes a wider context into account. It also offers an app for consumers to scan products and learn more for themselves.
“There are always new kids on the block,” Eileen says. “And now, scientists are looking at new ways of defining UPFs. This terminology isn’t going away, so we need a definition which is more consistent and takes processing and nutrients into account – as well as the potential beneficial effects some processes and added ingredients can have.”
Grow what you eat
Mick Kelly is founder of the Grow It Yourself (GIY) movement, which operates out of Grow HQ – its headquarters, café and learning centre – in Co Waterford. In a recent Instagram post, Mick shared a graphic from Public Health Nutrition (a Cambridge University Press publication) which showed the percentages of UPF consumption among European states.
While the United Kingdom and Germany consume the highest percentages of UPFs, Ireland is not far behind with a consumption rate of 45.9%. Mediterranean countries, as one might expect, have significantly lower consumption rates. This frustrates Mick and his colleagues at GIY, where their goal is to encourage Irish consumers to grow more of their own food.
Mick Kelly is founder of the Grow It Yourself (GIY) movement. \ Philip Doyle
“There’s all kinds of research that says a diet high in UPFs will lead to chronic health problems,” he says. “We can nitpick about what should be in what category, but I think we all know what is good and what we should avoid.”
Mick is aware that small-scale gardening might not save the world, but it definitely has the power to change the mindset of the average consumer.
“Our apporach is to get people to grow food themselves; it’s not about self-sufficiency because that isn’t achievable for most people,” he explains. “But even if people are only growing 2% of the food they are eating, that 2% has the power to change the other 98%.
“There is research – some we have done ourselves, and there is other academic research – which shows that when people grow some of their own food, they develop different behaviours over time. They eat more locally-grown, whole foods because they are trying to find the next best thing to growing it themselves.”
GIY have seen much success with this approach, but at times Mick says it still feels like “pushing a piano up a hill” as they face competition with UPFs and big food brands.
“UPFs are incredibly compelling,” he says. “The mouthfeel, the manufacturing. They can be hard to stop eating once you start, and they are backed with huge marketing departments and celebrity endorsements. I feel like standard fruit and veg is not well placed to win that battle, but when people grow some food themselves and understand what fresh, seasonal food tastes like, that’s a lightbulb moment for a lot of people.”
GIY’s GROW At School initiative is a garden-based learning programme for primary students. It includes educational content designed collaboratively between growers and teachers to ensure measurable outcomes. So far, the programme has been rolled out in 700 schools, with 100,000 students reached.
GIY is now calling on the Government to fund a national roll-out of the GROW At School programme.
“When kids are involved in growing something, they’re more likely to try eating it,” he says.
“The idea of ‘food empathy’ is such a powerful thing – we are so disconnected from real food in every facet.
“Re-establishing that connection and getting back in touch with our food is the only way to push back.”
Ultra-prossessed foods lack a clear definition.Overeating UPF’s can lead to an increased risk in Type 2 Diabetes and certain cancers and should be consumed in moderation and mindfully.Not all UPF’s are the same. Due to the grey area in UPF classifications, some processed foods can be considered substantially nutritional.If you are concerned about your intake of UPF’s, speak to your doctor or seek professsional medical advice. Read more
A decade of equality in Irish food and drink
Spilling the tea with Maitre D'
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