Understanding NOVA
Four groups that help explain how and why a food was processed—not a second nutrition score.
What NOVA measures
NOVA groups foods by the nature, extent, and purpose of industrial processing. It answers a different question from Nutri-Score: processing level is not the same thing as nutrient quality.
The four groups
Group 1Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
Group 2Processed culinary ingredients
Group 3Processed foods
Group 4Ultra-processed foods
How Kouka evaluates evidence
Kouka examines reviewed ingredient, formulation, additive, and category evidence. Clear ultra-processing markers can support group 4, while groups 1–3 require appropriate evidence. Ingredient count alone is not used as a shortcut, and preservatives alone do not prove group 4.
When the group is unknown
Some labels do not reveal enough about the manufacturing process. In those cases, unknown is more honest than a confident-looking guess. Community corrections are reviewed before a NOVA result becomes part of the shared catalog.
NOVA is one lens. Read it alongside nutrition and the ingredient list rather than as a complete judgment of a product.