Food Groups
The NOVA system classifies foods by how much they've been processed — not just what nutrients they contain. Understanding these groups is the first step to eating real food.
The Processing Spectrum
Group 1: Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
Real food, as nature intended
These are foods in their most natural state — or close to it. Think of the edible parts of plants (like fruits, vegetables, seeds, and...
Fresh, squeezed, chilled, frozen, or dried fruits and leafy and root vegetables; grains such as brown, parboiled or white rice, corn cob or kernel, wheat berry or grain; legumes such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas...
Group 2: Processed culinary ingredients
The building blocks of home cooking
These are ingredients you'd typically use in a kitchen to prepare and cook Group 1 foods — but you wouldn't eat them on their own....
Vegetable oils crushed from seeds or fruits (notably olives); butter and lard obtained from milk and pork; sugar and molasses obtained from cane or beet...
Group 3: Processed foods
Simple additions to real food
Processed foods are made by combining Group 1 foods with Group 2 ingredients — like adding salt, oil, or sugar — to make them tastier...
Canned or bottled vegetables and legumes in brine; salted or sugared nuts and seeds; salted, cured, or smoked meats and fish...
Group 4: Ultra-processed foods
Industrial creations — not real food
Ultra-processed foods are industrial creations made mostly from substances extracted from foods or synthesized in labs — with little, if any, whole food left intact....
Carbonated soft drinks; sweet or savoury packaged snacks; chocolate, candies (confectionery)...