Of course I'm misinterpreting it. That's my point: there's no clear correct interpretation, so everything is a misinterpretation. A clear definition would add

Of course I'm misinterpreting it. That's my point: there's no clear correct interpretation, so everything is a misinterpretation. A clear definition would address all edge cases, which is necessary for prevent suppliers from gaming the system, as they currently do for example with claims of "no added sugar" by using evaporated cane juice. Pink Lady apples are clearly in the lowest category of processing, but the reason I brought it up is that they more comprehensively meet the "overall purpose of ultra-processing" more than anything I've found, while TVP patties and candy canes are most clearly in the highest category of processing, but are usually unbranded, inconvenient, unappetizing, low margin products that are entirely antithetical to the "overall purpose of ultra-processing". I searched through the database and most junk food I found was not ranked as ultra-processed, except for chips made from potato flour, which listed the addition of Annatto as a marker for being ultra-processed. I have Annato in my kitchen right now, because it's a traditional ingredient in Mesoamerican foods that has been used for thousands of years, and there's many dishes I couldn't make without it. It's a whole fruit that dries on the plant and it's only processing is grinding, which should put it in the lowest category, but somehow adding it to foods puts them in the highest category. It has been shown to fight cancer (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26875492/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26875492/) but the page suggests that ultra-processed foods increase the risk of cancer. The breads that show up don't look fresh at all, and crispbread, which I've never seen delivered fresh is still not categorized as ultra-processed. (https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/7300400481588/fine-rye-crispbread-fibre-wasa https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/7300400481588/fine-r...) Meanwhile I did find a bread product where fortifying with vitamin C was the sole reason it's categorized as ultra-processed: (https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/01318180/multiseed-wholemeal-farmhouse-loaf-sainsbury-s https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/01318180/multiseed-w...) The same seems to be true of vital wheat gluten, a traditional food in China.