To my knowledge, no one has a consistent definition as to what qualifies as ultra-processed, even yours there is a bit non-standard. We’re pretty sure twinkies are ultra processed, but then there’s questions on whether something like ground beef even with minimal/zero additives counts as processed or if we do add things to it, is it ultra-processed? Vegetable soup is probably pretty alright, but hey, it might qualify as ‘ultra-processed’, the qualifiers for it are a mess.

I agree with the sentiment they’re going for, i.e., we probably shouldn’t be eating twinkies as the cornerstone of our diet, but I wonder how these studies have shown how dangerous ultra-processed foods are when none of them seem to include a definition that you can consistently tie back to discrete items. It feels like we would all likely be better served by identifying the problematic elements (like the hydrogenated fats/etc) within the ultra-processed foods and focusing the conversation on those.