Ultra-Processed Food and Kids: The NOVA Groups Explained
What ultra-processed food means for kids, the four NOVA groups with everyday examples, how to spot NOVA 4 on a label, and easy swaps.
Ultra-processed food is food made mostly from substances extracted from other foods (starches, sugars, oils, protein isolates) and put back together with additives to be tasty, cheap and long-lasting. For kids, that describes a large share of what is marketed to them: coated cereals, flavoured yoghurts, fruit snacks, chicken nuggets, packaged snacks and soft drinks. The system researchers use to sort food by processing is called NOVA, and once you know its four groups you can place almost any product in about ten seconds.
This guide explains the groups with kid-food examples, what the research does and does not show, how to spot ultra-processed food from an ingredient list, and where to start with swaps. It sits alongside our guides on how to read food labels and food additives to avoid for kids.
What NOVA is
NOVA was developed by Carlos Monteiro and colleagues at the University of São Paulo from 2009 onwards. Instead of grouping food by nutrients (fat, sugar, protein) it groups food by how much industrial processing it has been through and why. It has been adopted in dietary guidelines in Brazil and used in hundreds of studies worldwide, and it is the processing measure Milo uses.
NOVA is not about whether food is “processed” at all. Almost everything is processed in some way, including frozen peas and pasteurised milk. It is about a specific kind of processing that creates products you could not make at home.
The four NOVA groups, with kid-food examples
| Group | What it is | Kid-food examples |
|---|---|---|
| NOVA 1 Unprocessed or minimally processed | Whole foods, or foods cleaned, cut, frozen, dried, fermented or pasteurised without added ingredients | Fruit, vegetables, eggs, plain milk, plain yoghurt, oats, rice, dried pasta, frozen berries, plain nuts, fresh or frozen meat and fish, plain popcorn kernels |
| NOVA 2 Processed culinary ingredients | Things extracted from group 1 foods and used to cook with | Butter, olive oil, sugar, honey, salt, flour, maple syrup |
| NOVA 3 Processed foods | Group 1 foods with group 2 ingredients added, usually a short list | Cheese, tinned beans and tomatoes, fresh bakery bread, tinned tuna, salted nuts, home-style jam, smoked salmon, plain crackers with a short list |
| NOVA 4 Ultra-processed foods | Made mostly from industrial ingredients and additives; you could not make them in a home kitchen | Sweetened cereals, fruit snacks and roll-ups, flavoured yoghurt pouches, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, packaged cakes and biscuits, crisps and flavoured crackers, soft drinks and cordial, instant noodles, most sliced supermarket bread, ice cream, protein bars, many “toddler” snacks |
A note on group 3 versus group 4
The line between 3 and 4 is where most confusion sits. Cheese is group 3. A cheese-flavoured snack made from potato starch, vegetable oil, cheese powder, flavour enhancers and colour is group 4. Bread from a bakery with flour, water, salt and yeast is group 3. Packaged sliced bread with emulsifiers, preservatives and added sugars is group 4. The food category does not decide; the ingredient list does.
Why NOVA 4 matters for kids
Here is what the research shows, and it is important to say it carefully.
Studies that follow large groups of people over years consistently find that people who eat more ultra-processed food have higher rates of a range of health problems. A 2024 umbrella review in The BMJ pooled dozens of these studies and found associations with outcomes including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression and early death. In children specifically, studies from cohorts in the UK, Brazil and elsewhere have linked higher ultra-processed intake in early childhood to higher body fat and worse diet quality later on.
These are associations, not proof of cause. People who eat a lot of ultra-processed food often differ in other ways too, and researchers try to adjust for that but can never do it perfectly. There is one small controlled trial from the US National Institutes of Health in 2019 in which adults on a matched ultra-processed diet ate about 500 more calories a day and gained weight compared with the same people on a minimally processed diet, which suggests something about these foods drives us to eat more. That trial was in adults, over two weeks.
Why might ultra-processed food be a problem beyond its nutrients? The leading ideas are:
- They crowd out whole foods. A child full of fruit snacks and crackers has less room for fruit and bread.
- They are easy to overeat. Soft textures, high energy density and engineered flavour make them fast to eat and slow to fill you up.
- The additives. Emulsifiers, sweeteners and colours are being studied for effects on the gut and behaviour, which we cover in our additives guide.
- Early taste habits. Kids who grow used to very sweet, very salty, very soft food may find plain food less appealing.
Put simply: no single ultra-processed food is dangerous, but a diet built on them is associated with poorer health, and childhood is when eating patterns are set. That is reason enough to nudge the balance without panic.
How to spot a NOVA 4 food from the ingredient list
You do not need a database. Turn the packet over and look for any of these:
- Ingredients you would not find in a home kitchen: protein isolate, hydrolysed protein, maltodextrin, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, modified starch, hydrogenated or interesterified oil, dextrose, lactose or whey added on their own.
- Cosmetic additives: flavours or “natural flavours”, flavour enhancers (E621 / 621), colours, emulsifiers, thickeners, sweeteners, humectants, glazing agents, anti-caking agents. The Australian numbers and E numbers in the 400s and 600s are a strong tell.
- Five or more ingredients with several of the above. Long lists are not always ultra-processed, but ultra-processed lists are almost always long.
- Words like “reconstituted”, “textured”, “extruded” on the packet or in the name.
One rule of thumb from Monteiro’s group: if the list contains at least one ingredient you would never use at home and never see in a group 1, 2 or 3 food, it is very likely NOVA 4.
Not every NOVA 4 food is equally bad
This is the part many articles miss. NOVA is a processing scale, not a health score. A wholegrain sliced bread with an emulsifier and a can of cola are both NOVA 4, and they are not the same thing to put in a lunchbox.
That is why Milo does not score on NOVA alone. Each product’s Milo Score from 0 to 100 combines:
- Nutrition per 100 g, in the style of Nutri-Score (the front-of-pack system from Santé publique France): energy, sugars, saturated fat and salt count against a product; fibre, protein and fruit, vegetables and legumes count for it.
- Additives, each ranked into a risk tier based on the published evidence, with the harm named plainly.
- The NOVA group, so that heavy processing pulls a score down.
- An organic bonus where a product is certified organic.
The result lands in one of four bands: Bad (0 to 24), Poor (25 to 49), Good (50 to 74) and Excellent (75 to 100), each with its own Milo face. A NOVA 4 wholegrain bread with no risky additives can still land in Good. A NOVA 4 cordial with two colours and a preservative will not. The point is to help you choose the better ultra-processed option on the days when that is the realistic choice, not to make you feel guilty for buying bread.
Easy swaps
You do not need to clear the pantry. Pick one category a fortnight and swap the everyday item, not the birthday treat.
| Instead of (usually NOVA 4) | Try (NOVA 1 to 3) |
|---|---|
| Sweetened breakfast cereal | Rolled oats, or plain wheat biscuits with fruit on top |
| Flavoured yoghurt pouch | Plain yoghurt with mashed banana or frozen berries stirred through |
| Fruit snacks and roll-ups | Whole fruit, or dried apricots and sultanas (check for sulfites) |
| Flavoured crackers and crisps | Plain rice cakes or crackers with a short list, cheese, popcorn popped at home |
| Chicken nuggets | Chicken strips rolled in breadcrumbs and baked; make a big batch and freeze |
| Cordial and soft drink | Water, milk, or water with a squeeze of orange |
| Packaged muesli bars | Handful of nuts (age-appropriate), a banana, a boiled egg |
| Sliced white bread with a long list | Bakery loaf, or a supermarket loaf with the shortest list you can find |
A few practical notes:
- Keep the swap similar in shape and ritual. A pouch becomes a small tub with a spoon, not a lecture.
- Some kids take ten or more tries before they accept a new food. That is normal, not a failure.
- If your child has feeding difficulties, food allergies or a medical diet, talk to your GP or paediatrician before changing what they eat.
How Milo helps
Milo shows the NOVA group for every product you scan, then puts it in context with the nutrition and additive detail so you can see whether a packaged food is a reasonable everyday option or a sometimes food. For anything that scores low, Milo suggests a better-scoring swap from the same category and shows both scores side by side, so the alternative is something your child might actually eat. Milo is free to download on the App Store, and no brand can pay to change a score.
Common questions
Is all processed food bad for kids?
No. Frozen vegetables, tinned beans, plain yoghurt, cheese and bakery bread are all processed and all fine. The concern in the research is specifically with NOVA 4 ultra-processed foods eaten as the bulk of the diet.
How much ultra-processed food is too much?
There is no agreed number, and no health body has set a limit for children. The direction from the research is that less is better on average. A practical target is to make group 1 to 3 foods the base of most meals and let ultra-processed foods be the occasional extra rather than the default.
Is “organic” or “no added sugar” ultra-processed food okay?
It can still be NOVA 4. An organic corn puff with natural flavour and sunflower oil is ultra-processed, just with better-sourced ingredients. Those labels change some things about a product but not the processing. Our guide to reading food labels covers which front-of-pack claims are worth your attention.
Does baby and toddler food count?
Often, yes. Many pouches, puffs and toddler snacks meet the NOVA 4 definition even when marketed as healthy. Plain versions and homemade equivalents are usually easy swaps, and your child health nurse or paediatrician can advise on what suits your child’s stage.