• xep
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    5 days ago

    This point is raised every time food is classified using NOVA.

    Please see: https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5277b379-0acb-4d97-a6a3-602774104629/content

    In particular,

    |GROUP 4| Ultra-processed foods

    Some of these substances are then submitted to hydrolysis, or hydrogenation, or other chemical modifications. Subsequent processes involve the assembly of unmodified and modified food substances with little if any whole food using industrial techniques such as extrusion, moulding and pre-frying. Colours, flavours, emulsifiers and other additives are frequently added to make the final product palatable or hyper-palatable. Sophisticated and attractive packaging is used, usually made of synthetic materials.

    Sugar, oils and fats, and salt, used to make processed foods, are often ingredients of ultra- processed foods, commonly in combination. Additives that prolong product duration, protect original properties, and prevent proliferation of micro-organisms may be used in both processed and ultra-processed foods, as well as in processed culinary ingredients, and, infrequently, in minimally processed foods.

    The peanut oil you can make in your kitchen is processed, but the peanut oil used in this product with sophisticated and attractive packaging is industrially refined peanut oil and ultra-processed.

    Not all ultra-processed foods are recent or new. The first such products created and, enabled by mass industrialisation, some commonly consumed for generations, include packaged cookies (biscuits), preserves (jams); sauces, meat, yeast and other extracts; ice-cream, chocolates, packaged candies (confectionery); margarines; and infant formulas.

    It’s quite clear to me that the product listed here is indeed, under NOVA, ultra-processed. Also, I don’t know how you do it, but you don’t need peanut oil to roast peanuts in your own kitchen.