NOVA group 4: the definition
Formulations built mostly from substances extracted from foods.
Group 4 is defined as industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances extracted from foods, derived from food constituents, or synthesised in laboratories. The distinction from the other three groups is one of kind rather than degree: a group 4 product is assembled from ingredients, not made from a food.
The markers
- Substances not used in domestic cooking: protein isolates, maltodextrin, invert sugar, hydrogenated or interesterified oils, modified starches.
- Additives whose purpose is to make the product work rather than to feed anyone: emulsifiers, stabilisers, humectants, bulking and anti-bulking agents, firming agents, carbonating agents.
- Cosmetic additives: colourings, flavourings, flavour enhancers, non-sugar sweeteners.
One marker is generally sufficient. The presence of an emulsifier in a loaf is what moves it out of group 3, even though everything else in it is unchanged.
What this page deliberately does not do
For what the term means in practice, how to spot it while shopping, and why share of spend is the measure worth having, everything here sits under ultra-processed food, which explains the whole system and how to tell the groups apart in a shop.
Common questions
- How many markers does it take?
- Generally one. A single additive whose role is technological rather than culinary is enough to place a product in group 4.
- Is group 4 the same as junk food?
- No. The categories overlap heavily and are not the same. Group 4 is about manufacturing; junk food is a judgement about nutrition, and NOVA does not make one.
One photo of a receipt answers this for your own shopping.
Bagged reads every line and reports what share of your food spend was ultra-processed, and which items it was.
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