Processed Foods In Context: An Analysis Of Consumer Purchasing Patterns, Food Classification Approaches, Nutrition Density & Price

This report summarizes findings from an analysis commissioned by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) designed to quantify the prevalence of processed foods in U.S. retail grocery purchases and to assess nutrient density within and across food processing classifications using the Nova classification and the Nutrient Rich Food Index 6.3 (NRF6.3) approaches. The analysis focuses on more than 40,000 products across five categories frequently purchased by U.S. households with children: cereal, snacks, fresh dairy, prepared meals, and fruits and vegetables. Findings show that processing classification approaches alone do not reliably predict nutrient density as food and beverage products classified as Nova 4 represent a substantial share of sales in multiple food categories and NRF6.3 scores vary widely.

While the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Report, Digital Discourse On Processed Foods: Insights From Consumer & Key Opinion Leader Commentary, indicates that the digital discourse around processed foods is highly visible and emotionally charged, it reflects what people say, rather than what they purchase or consume. This new analysis was intentionally designed to move beyond conversation by evaluating real-world purchasing behavior across commonly consumed food categories by pairing a processed food classification based on ingredient attributes with a standardized nutrient density score derived from Nutrition Facts Panel. Together, these approaches demonstrate how processed foods are actually purchased at retailers and highlight the diversity in nutrient density across foods classified as highly processed.