The moment Carlos Monteiro and his colleagues at the University of Sao Paulo debuted the NOVA classification system in 2009, it ignited a contentious debate with the food and nutritional science communities around the basic legitimacy of the classifications, their relevance as nutritional tools, and the role of food manufacturers in formulating and marketing what NOVA classifies as “ultra-processed” foods.
The discussion has penetrated all facets of commercial and academic food scien…