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If your gran would not cook it · 4 min
Ultra-processed, in one aisle minute
NOVA 4 is not a moral grade. It is a recipe with cosmetic additives — flavour, colour, emulsifier — built to be eaten fast. The disc already weights it.
The practical test
Could you make a version in a normal kitchen with food you recognise? Bread, yogurt, cheese: often yes. A neon snack, a reconstituted nugget, a protein puff: no. That is the split.
Not all processing is the enemy
Frozen peas, tinned tomatoes, pasteurised milk. Those are preservation. Ultra-processed is when the recipe needs a flavour lab. We score the pack, not the freezer.
How to shop it
You do not have to memorise NOVA. Scan. If the extras list is a paragraph, pick the neighbour with five words. That is the whole method.
The extras we mean
On our shelves
Real packs. Tap one — the score is the same as the rest of the shop.
