NOVA Food Classification, Food Additives and Diabetes

De: Mark A. Ashford

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Hello and welcome to this book NOVA Food Classification, Food Additives, and Diabates.

The humble but informative Nutrition label offers so much information and is depended on by so many, but also not read as much as it should be. In the past I have written extensively about Food Labels, Nutrition and how to use the information there. After all, it is all we have to tell us about a product. It provides ingredient lists and that is where we will find Food Additives such as Emulsifiers, Stabilizers, Sweeteners, colouring agents, and artificial flavours to name a few additives.

A simple recipe for home-made Vanila Ice Cream has 6 ingredients which you can find in the average kitchen. A commercial French Vanila product has 12 ingredients, 4 are Emulsifiers and Stabilizers. They are not found in an average kitchen. They are for there for manufacturing reasons, they add calories and our bodies must deal with them. It is easier and convenient to buy a tub of manufactured Ice Cream than it is make it, and wait 6-8 hours for it to freeze. Convenience and our high-pressure life styles drive the increased consumption of manufactured products loaded with additives that exist solely to make the product available in a drive through or because we do not have time to prepare what we want to consume.

In the UK Parliament, a House of Lords report by the Food, Diet, and Obesity Committee reported that, the UK food system is broken. The objective of their report was to set out a plan to fix it so people in the UK can eat better diets and live healthier lives.

• Unhealthy diets are the primary driver of obesity and preventable diet-related disease. All income groups fail to meet dietary recommendations. This is not because of a collective loss of willpower. In recent decades, unhealthy, often highly processed foods have become widely accessible, heavily marketed and often cheaper than healthier alternatives.[1]

The American Heart Association reported that Obesity contributes to up to half of new diabetes cases annually in the United States.[2]

The NOVA system classifies food into 4 categories. Category #4 is Ultra Processed Food and Drinks (UPF). These are characterised by industrial formulations with five or more ingredients. These products often include unusual additives not commonly found in culinary preparations alongside sugars, oils, fats, salt, and preservatives.[3]

Colombia has put taxes on UPF, and it’s one of several countries taking a stand against UPF. I ate UPF for years, and if I had known what was in this book back then, things would have been different and I believe I would have prevented my Type 2 Diabetes.

Mark Ashford - [e-mail]

[1] UK Parliament -, "‘A Plan to Fix Our Broken Food System’: House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee Report," (2024).

[2] Journal of the American Heart Association Report, "Obesity Contributes to up to Half of New Diabetes Cases Annually in the United States," (2021).

[3] Syed S. A., "The Nova Method of Food Classification," (2025).