[wryoak]

The Nova framework for classifying processed foods was created in 2009 by a Brazilian epidemiologist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_classification

Presumably, since the first citation in the paper is said epidemiologist (Monteiro), this is the framework they rely on.

Unless you’re intent on scientific gatekeeping, in which case having actually read the reported study (it’s linked in the article fyi) would have offered much more effective methods of rebuttal than semantic quibbles.

[staticassertion]

It's not gatekeeping to point out that multiple studies have shown that Nova is a perfect example of "no one agrees on what processed foods are". Even when given Nova criteria, nutritionists repeatedly, across studies, fail to agree on categorization.

Nova also does not even attempt to categorize in terms of health because "processed" has nothing to do with "healthy" despite being used in conversations about public health. Absolutely perfect example of how bad the term "processed" is.