AI Enters the Aisles: WISEcode's New Tools Target Food Processing

ANAHEIM, CA – March 04, 2026 – In a move set to ripple through grocery aisles and food manufacturing boardrooms, FoodTechAI™ company WISEcode today unveiled a two-pronged strategy aimed at demystifying the complex world of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). At the Natural Products Expo West, the company launched its Non-UPF Shield™, a verification program for brands, alongside a redesigned consumer mobile app that promises instant clarity on a product's processing level.

Both initiatives are powered by the newly formalized WISEcode UPF™ Standard, a proprietary framework designed to bring a new level of consistency to a debate often mired in ambiguity. As consumer awareness of UPFs grows, WISEcode is betting that technology can provide the clear, actionable answers that shoppers and brands are increasingly demanding.

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For the average consumer, navigating health claims and lengthy ingredient lists can be a daunting task. WISEcode's redesigned UPF Detector app aims to replace confusion with clarity. Beginning today, when a shopper scans a product's barcode, the app will immediately display whether the item is considered ultra-processed under the company's new standard.

Crucially, the app goes beyond a simple yes or no. It provides plain-language explanations of the specific ingredients and manufacturing methods that contribute to a product's classification. Foods that meet the company's non-ultra-processed criteria will display a distinct verification badge, offering a quick visual cue for shoppers. This approach seeks to directly address a known consumer pain point.

“Awareness of ultra-processed food is rising, but shoppers still struggle to identify it consistently,” said Dr. Richard Black, Chief Scientific Officer at WISEcode, in a statement. “Our goal is to make processing visible and understandable in seconds.”

This level of transparency at the point of purchase has the potential to significantly influence consumer behavior. By transforming a smartphone into a food processing detector, the company is empowering individuals to make more informed choices that align with their health goals, moving beyond front-of-package marketing to the underlying science of a product's formulation.

A Nudge for Brands: The Push for Cleaner Labels

While the app targets consumers, the Non-UPF Shield™ is a direct appeal to the food industry. The shield serves as a verification mark for brands to demonstrate that their products meet WISEcode's non-UPF threshold, providing what the company calls a “clear trust signal” for packaging and retail. Initial participants in the program include brands like Blue Zones Kitchen and OKO, signaling early industry interest.

WISEcode is positioning its program as a modern alternative to traditional, often cumbersome, certification processes. Instead of relying on extensive paperwork and manual audits, the Non-UPF Shield leverages the company's vast food intelligence platform, which analyzes over 840,000 products. By using public ingredient lists and its scientific database, the company claims it can provide verification faster and more transparently, with most reviews completed instantly.

Perhaps more significantly, the program is designed to be a collaborative tool rather than a punitive one. When a product fails to qualify, WISEcode provides the brand with a detailed report identifying the specific ingredients or processing techniques driving the UPF classification. This offers a clear roadmap for reformulation, giving companies actionable insights to align their portfolios with growing consumer demand for less processed options. This guidance could prove invaluable for CPG giants and startups alike as they navigate the shifting landscape of food production.

Beyond NOVA: A New Standard Enters the UPF Debate

At the heart of WISEcode's new ecosystem is its UPF™ Standard, a framework that attempts to bring nuance to a contentious topic. For years, the most widely cited system for classifying processed foods has been the NOVA classification, developed by Brazilian researchers. While influential in public health circles, NOVA has been criticized for its broad categories, which can lump nutritionally diverse products—from a fortified whole-grain cereal to a sugary soda—into the same “ultra-processed” group.

WISEcode's standard aims for a more granular approach. It classifies products across five levels: Minimal, Light, Moderate, Ultra, or Super-Ultra Processed. The classification isn't based on a simple ingredient count; it's a weighted system that evaluates the degree of refinement of each ingredient, accounts for the percentage of calories from added sugar, and flags specific industrial additives associated with heavy processing or potential health concerns.

This multi-factor analysis allows for greater differentiation. For example, under the WISEcode standard, two yogurts that might both be considered UPF by NOVA could be distinguished, with one rated as “Minimal” and another as “Super-Ultra” based on their specific ingredients and sugar content. This nuanced distinction could help guide consumers toward better choices within a category and provide brands with more precise reformulation targets.

“We believe food transparency requires clear standards that work in the real world,” said Peter Castleman, Founder and CEO of WISEcode. “Consumers need clarity. Brands need consistency. Our Standard was built to support both.”

Building an Infrastructure for the Future of Food

While public health bodies like the WHO and various national governments are increasingly incorporating the concept of food processing into dietary guidelines, a globally accepted, regulatory definition of “ultra-processed” remains elusive. WISEcode is effectively stepping into this void, introducing a market-driven framework designed for immediate, practical application.

By building a scalable technological infrastructure around its standard, the company is translating the complex, academic debate over UPFs into a tool for both manufacturers and consumers. The platform's ability to analyze an immense dataset—over 840,000 products across 15,000 attributes—gives its classifications significant weight and market coverage.

This initiative represents a significant bet on the future of food, where ingredient transparency and processing levels become as important to consumers as calorie counts and fat content. As regulators continue their deliberations, technology-driven solutions like WISEcode's are already reshaping the information available to the public and the incentives for the industry.

As Castleman concluded, “The question is not whether ultra-processed foods matter. It is how we define them clearly and apply that definition consistently. That is what we are building.”