It's interesting that the "ultra-processed" food example they give here is quesadillas, refried beans and diet lemonade. Not exactly the typical example of pre-packaged cookies and chips.

Another interesting thing is they're saying that stir-fried beef and veggies over basmati rice was not as processed. Both examples include meat, veggies and carbs (rice vs bread), is the simple addition of cheese enough to make quesadillas "ultra-processed"? The form factor? I certainly would never have come to that conclusion on my own. Is there a guide for this?

We need some better definitions here, maybe it's a little too cynical of me, but I'm wondering if all this study discovered is which foods tasted better.