Ultra-Processed Foods in the Food Supply: Prevalence, Nutritional Composition and Use of Voluntary Labelling Schemes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) represent a substantial part of modern diets, with a growing prevalence in food environments worldwide. Their unfavourable nutritional composition and adverse health effects present growing public health concerns.

Methods

This study examines the prevalence of UPFs in the Slovenian food supply, their nutritional quality and the use of different food symbols and labelling schemes on food packaging. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the representative Slovenian branded foods database. A total of 23,173 prepacked foods and beverages were categorised into levels of processing according to the NOVA classification system. The nutritional composition of UPFs was compared to less processed products within 16 narrow subcategories. A

SUBMITTER: Hafner E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12113896 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature