WEBINAR series
Special Edition IANE & BSLM Webinar: Ultra Processed Foods
Webinar recorded in April 2022
The theme for the webinar is 'The complexity of classifying ultra-processed foods (UPF): is food processing a pre-requisite for poor health?’.
The webinar presents multiple viewpoints: First, we hear from Dr Priscila Machado, a representative of the NOVA group about the work and evidence supporting this classification system. In particular this explores the relationship of UPF with poor health and what would be the impact of using the NOVA system to inform public health policies and practice. Second, we examine a different viewpoint invited from Prof Eleanor Beck from the NNEdPro ANZ network, on the health benefits of cereal fibre, to explore the public health impact of categorising food groups known to be beneficial for health (such as whole grain bread and high fibre whole grain cereal) as UPF’s using the NOVA system.
The discussion was chaired by Dr Ellen Fallows, our colleague at the BSLM who helped to draw conclusions from these presentations and offer perspectives on translating this knowledge into practical advice for patients.
Each webinar is followed by a dedicated Journal Club where selected papers from associated wider literature are presented and discussed in more detail.
The webinars and journal clubs are held in partnership with the International Academy of Nutrition Educators as well as the BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health.
The theme for the webinar is 'The complexity of classifying ultra-processed foods (UPF): is food processing a pre-requisite for poor health?’.
The webinar presents multiple viewpoints: First, we hear from Dr Priscila Machado, a representative of the NOVA group about the work and evidence supporting this classification system. In particular this explores the relationship of UPF with poor health and what would be the impact of using the NOVA system to inform public health policies and practice. Second, we examine a different viewpoint invited from Prof Eleanor Beck from the NNEdPro ANZ network, on the health benefits of cereal fibre, to explore the public health impact of categorising food groups known to be beneficial for health (such as whole grain bread and high fibre whole grain cereal) as UPF’s using the NOVA system.
The discussion was chaired by Dr Ellen Fallows, our colleague at the BSLM who helped to draw conclusions from these presentations and offer perspectives on translating this knowledge into practical advice for patients.
Each webinar is followed by a dedicated Journal Club where selected papers from associated wider literature are presented and discussed in more detail.
The webinars and journal clubs are held in partnership with the International Academy of Nutrition Educators as well as the BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health.
Write your awesome label here.
Dr Priscila Machado
Dr Machado is an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN) at Deakin University. She holds a PhD and a Masters in Public Health Nutrition (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil). Her research focuses on evaluation of sustainable healthy diets based on the degree of food processing, understanding the role of ultra-processed foods in the food system and human health, and on science and politics of food and nutrition policy-making.
Priscila has expertise in nutritional epidemiology, nutrition science and sustainability. This includes substantial experience in the NOVA food classification system and its identification of ultra-processed foods, dietary patterns research using complex datasets (e.g. national surveys), and developing methodologies to incorporate food processing on health and sustainability assessments. She currently co-supervises 2 PhD students and 1 Masters student.
Priscila has expertise in nutritional epidemiology, nutrition science and sustainability. This includes substantial experience in the NOVA food classification system and its identification of ultra-processed foods, dietary patterns research using complex datasets (e.g. national surveys), and developing methodologies to incorporate food processing on health and sustainability assessments. She currently co-supervises 2 PhD students and 1 Masters student.
Prof Eleanor Beck
Professor Eleanor Beck is Discipline Leader in Nutrition and Dietetics in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health. Eleanor has 30 years experience in clinical practice and dietetics education. Eleanor was part of the expert working group for the recent reviews of the National Competency Standards for Dietitians and the Advanced Accrediting Practising Dietitian and Fellow competency standards. Her clinical research includes close links with dietetics service delivery in hospitals, while working with industry partners and international collaborators in grains research.
Current projects include review of both individual grains and fibres, as well as cereal fibre and whole grains generally, and their effects on metabolic health. Eleanor is also Chair of the Council of Deans of Nutrition and Dietetics (ANZ) and the Chair of the Australia New Zealand Steering Committee for the NNEdPro group. NNEdPro (Need for Nutrition Education and Promotion) is a University of Cambridge based think tank, part of a global network to promote nutrition teaching and research in health professions. Eleanor is a Fellow of Dietitians Australia.
Dr Ellen Fallows
Dr Fallows is a GP with over 9 years’ experience as part of the management team for a 15,000-patient practice in Oxfordshire, UK. Her interest in lifestyle medicine comes from having been the lead Diabetes GP in her practice and working with a number of her patients to put their chronic diseases into remission with supported lifestyle-change.
With a foundation in evidence-based medicine from Oxford University, she is active in primary care research, including trials piloting primary care delivered dietary support to treat hypertension, obesity and diabetes as part of the DROPLET and DIAMOND studies. She was awarded a GP Fellowship to pilot and assess the effectiveness of group consultations for diabetes and multi-morbidity.
© 2024 by NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health.
Created with
