From Nova food classification to policy implementation: Latin American lessons for the sustainable diets agenda

Abstract

Latin America has become a major source of conceptual and evidence-informed policy innovation in response to the expansion of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).1–3 Although much of this processing-based policy architecture emerged through public health and food and nutrition security sectors, it increasingly contributes to sustainable diets by incorporating explicit food-system objectives and generating broader sustainability co-benefits. This trajectory has unfolded amid rapid and uneven UPF expansion across the Americas, with traditional diets being progressively displaced by highly profitable, standardised, and globalised industrial products.