What a shop is made of.

Ultra-processed food, the NOVA classification, and how to read the piece of paper the till hands you. No targets, no grades, and every figure computed from a real receipt.

A loose pile of crumpled supermarket receipts on a worktop

What is ultra-processed food?

The term has a real definition, and it is narrower than most people assume. Here is what it covers, what it does not, and why a till receipt is a good place to see it.

12 August 20264 min

The NOVA classification, explained

Four groups, one question: what was done to this food before it reached the shelf. Including the items that sit awkwardly between groups.

12 August 20263 min

How to read a supermarket receipt

Truncated names, asterisks, savings lines and weight entries. A receipt is more legible than it looks once you know what each part is for.

12 August 20263 min

Cutting ultra-processed food without cooking from scratch

Advice in this area usually assumes you will start cooking everything. Here is the version that assumes you will not.

12 August 20263 min

Why your banking app cannot see your food

Your bank knows you spent money at a supermarket. It does not know you bought anything in particular, and it structurally cannot.

12 August 20263 min

Personal inflation and your shopping basket

The published figure describes an average basket. Yours is a specific one, bought at a specific shop, and it moves at its own rate.

12 August 20263 min