What is the Welsh Government doing to dissuade the consumption of ultra-processed foods, especially for children?
The Welsh Government’s dietary advice is based on the recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN provides independent expert scientific advice on, and risk assessment of, nutrition and related health issues to the 4 UK Governments.
There is no agreed definition of ultra processed food. The term was adopted by the NOVA classification system - the most widely used of several different models that have been developed to classify foods by degree of processing but does not consider the nutrient content of foods.
SACN reviewed the evidence on processed food in 2023. It acknowledged the observed associations between higher consumption of (ultra-) processed foods and adverse health outcomes are concerning, but that the evidence needs to be treated with caution -there are limitations in the NOVA system, there’s potential for confounding, and it is possible that the observed adverse associations with ultra processed foods are explained by many of them being high in saturated fat, sugar and salt, for which there are substantial evidence of adverse health outcomes. SACN is keeping a watching brief on emerging evidence on ultra processed food and will make further recommendations to Government as appropriate.