Exploring the Power of Processing and Its Implications for the Future of Food Production

This talk will critically examine the prevalent NOVA classification of foods, which categorizes food products based on their processing level, and advocates for a paradigm shift towards nutritional composition-based classification. The fundamental premise of the NOVA system, which distinguishes foods into unprocessed or minimally processed, processed, and ultra-processed categories, is scrutinized for its oversimplification of the complex interaction between food processing and nutritional quality. This talk will summarize various research outputs showcasing the limitations of this classification. The presentation will focus on extrusion, fermentation, and germination as main process technology cases.