The significance of industrial processing for the nature of food and the state of human health - and in particular the techniques and ingredients developed by modern food science and technology - is generally underestimated. This is evident in both national and international policies and strategies designed to improve populations' nutrition and health. Until recently it has also been neglected in epidemiological and experimental studies concerning diet, nutrition and health. This report seeks to assess the impact of ultra-processed food on diet quality and health, based on NOVA, a food classification system developed by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The increase in the volume of industrially processed products in the global food supply has coincided with an increasing prevalence of obesity and non-communicable diseases in many countries, suggesting that ultra-processed food consumption may be detrimental for human health. However, studies are still limited and underline the need to better understand the main determinants of their consumption and the mechanisms that may explain the associations between these products and human health. This Special Issue collected new studies investigating the relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods, diet quality and human health, including those aiming to: Develop new tools to better determine the rate of consumption of ultra-processed foods in the population; Investigate the rate of consumption of ultra-processed foods in different subgroups of the population, including subjects following different dietary patterns; Analyse the relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and markers of health status; Explore possible mechanisms behind associations between the consumption of processed foods and health By providing up-to-date assessments of ultra-processed foods consumption and health implications, these reports will contribute to understanding if future public health nutrition policies are needed.

The NOVA system is a food classification system based on the degree and purpose of industrial food processing. NOVA, which introduced ‘ultra-processed’ as a food category, has been widely employed within the research community, and is increasingly used by national governments, international organisations, and civil society. Ultra-processed foods (UPF) are defined as formulations of food-derived substances (e.g., fats, sugars, starch, protein isolate) that contain little if any whole food and include classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing (‘cosmetic additives’), like colours, flavours, and emulsifiers. The impact of the production and consumption of ultra-processed foods on human and planetary health has been acknowledged and has started to gather global attention more recently. Because UPFs have become dominant components in diets of populations worldwide, there is an urgent need to scrutinise the human health, sustainability, and food environment impacts across a range of populations and country contexts and to understand the implications of their consumption for health inequalities.

Willett's Nutritional Epidemiology has become the foundation of this field. This new edition updates existing chapters and adds new ones addressing the assessment of physical activity, the role of genetics in nutritional epidemiology, and the interface of this field with policy.

Overeating and obesity are on the rise. Despite public health warnings, availability of diet books and programs, and the stigma associated with obesity, many people find it difficult to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. While there are many books on the topic of caloric or need-based eating, obesity and overeating can also result from eating that is not driven by hunger. Recent research found that excess food intake is largely driven by the palatability of food and the pleasure derived from eating. Hedonic Eating: How the Pleasure of Food Affects Our Brains and Behavior discusses the pleasurable aspects of food intake that may cause and perpetuate overconsumption. Broad in its scope, this book examines the various behavioral, biological, and social rewards of food. The comprehensive chapters cover topics ranging from the neurochemistry of food reward to the hotly debated concept of 'food addiction,' while providing relevant and up-to-date information from the current body of scientific literature regarding food reward.

Considering the detrimental environmental impact of current food systems, and the concerns raised about their sustainability, there is an urgent need to promote diets that are healthy and have low environmental impacts. These diets also need to be socio-culturally acceptable and economically accessible for all. Acknowledging the existence of diverging views on the concepts of sustainable diets and healthy diets, countries have requested guidance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on what constitutes sustainable healthy diets. These guiding principles take a holistic approach to diets; they consider international nutrition recommendations; the environmental cost of food production and consumption; and the adaptability to local social, cultural and economic contexts. This publication aims to support the efforts of countries as they work to transform food systems to deliver on sustainable healthy diets, contributing to the achievement of the SDGs at country level, especially Goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 13 (Climate Action).

THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION • The bestselling and eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and impact of ultra-processed food. With a new Afterword by the author. Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR • The Economist • The Times • The New Yorker • Smithsonian • Daily Mail • The Guardian • Financial Times • and more! It's not you, it's the food. How much of our daily caloric intake comes from ingesting substances that, technically speaking, do not meet traditional definitions of “food”? Chances are, if you’re eating something that came wrapped in plastic and contains a funky ingredient you don’t have in your kitchen, it's most likely—almost definitely—ultra-processed food, or UPF. More than the principal obstacle to “eating right,” UPF has been linked to metabolic disease, depression, inflammation, anxiety, and cancer, while the production, distribution, and disposal of UPF and related products globally is known to cause devastating environmental damage. At the same time, UPF represents the dominant, nigh-unavoidable food culture for millions upon millions of eaters. Medical doctor and broadcaster Chris van Tulleken has spent his career trying to reframe the conversation around eating right, balancing the hard (and sometimes shocking) facts about what we're putting into our bodies with empathy for the natural desire to keep eating what we like, have time for, and can afford. As he argues in this book, we are all participants in an experiment we didn't consent to, one to determine how to get us to buy as much ultra-processed food as possible. It’s not as simple as stumbling across the right diet trend, finding time to meal plan, or avoiding over-indulging in sugar, fat, or carbs or any other culprit. Nor is it a matter of individual will. It’s about learning to live in “the third age of eating”—defined by the overwhelming abundance of ultra-processed eating options—and arming yourself with the simple and not-so-simple facts that will help you make the choices that are right for you.