Measures of Reading Ease and NOVA Food Processing Classification on Ingredients Lists in the United States

Recent literature has focused on how consumers perceive and understand the composition and production of ultra-processed foods, finding need for clear and transparent food product labeling and public nutrition campaigns as increased intake of ultra-processed foods and drinks has been associated with adverse health outcomes. The NOVA system classifies foods into 4 groups, where NOVA 1 foods are raw or minimally processed and NOVA 4 foods are considered “ultra-processed”. To this end, the objective of this work is to determine if there is a relationship between NOVA classification groups for food processing and metrics of reading ease using ingredients lists. Reading ease metrics (syllables per ingredient, complex word count) were measured on the ingredients lists of food products by NOVA classification from the Open Food Facts database. NOVA 4 group food products were found to have ingredients lists that were longer, had more syllables, and had more complex words than other NOVA groups. The results of this work indicate that measures of reading ease could be further explored as a means for food product producers to understand how consumers may perceive their products and use them in their personal health pursuits. Further, the results of this study indicate that more analysis is needed to understand the semantic breakdown of text used in food product labeling.