What is "Processed Food"?

slkehl

I studied nutrition science in college, and "processed food" wasn't a term I remember being used. I looked up the definition today, and here's what I found:

"Food processing is the transformation of raw ingredients into food, or of food into other forms."

By that definition, processed food seems to include just about everything at the supermarket except for raw produce. Milk, flour, meats, orange juice, granola ect. This sounds like a stringent raw diet to me. However, I've seen many people on here saying that they've cut out processed foods, so I doubt that they're defining processed food in the same way. Is there a general connotation for this term, or is it something like "clean eating", where everyone has their own rules?

SewersofCasaBonita

Most people define 'processed' in their own way. Depends on what diet guru they're following.

Laurelthequeen

I tend to view "processed" foods as things that are made with raw ingredients that I wouldn't have in my kitchen or be able to easily locate and buy.

Or something like bread having like 10 ingredients. I don't make bread with HFCS, but much of the bread on the market has it.

zillah73

Like the person above me, I view "processed" foods as those which contain ingredients I can't just pick up on my own (with the exception of yogurt and cottage cheese – obviously, I can't just swing by the store and pick up active live cultures. :laugh:) If the ingredient list reads like a recipe, I'm probably cool with it. That said, I still opt to do most of my own cooking to make things from scratch and control the ingredients. And I don't have a "diet guru." I just have common sense.

magerum

Would you all eat this piece of food?


Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Pyridoxine, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Folate, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Phytosterols, Amino acids, Alanine,Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cystine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine,Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine,Proline, Serine,Threonine, Tryptophan,Tyrosine, Valine

jonnythan

I studied nutrition science in college, and "processed food" wasn't a term I remember being used. I looked up the definition today, and here's what I found:

"Food processing is the transformation of raw ingredients into food, or of food into other forms."

By that definition, processed food seems to include just about everything at the supermarket except for raw produce. Milk, flour, meats, orange juice, granola ect. This sounds like a stringent raw diet to me. However, I've seen many people on here saying that they've cut out processed foods, so I doubt that they're defining processed food in the same way. Is there a general connotation for this term, or is it something like "clean eating", where everyone has their own rules?

It's a buzzword that food alarmists use to scare you away from eating foods that you enjoy and are nutritious.

jonnythan

Would you all eat this piece of food?


Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Pyridoxine, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Folate, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Phytosterols, Amino acids, Alanine,Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cystine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine,Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine,Proline, Serine,Threonine, Tryptophan,Tyrosine, Valine

Sounds like a multivitamin+amino acid supplement of some kind?

Querian

I don't eat a lot of processsed foods but I do eat things like bread, pasta, tortillas, yogurt sometimes. All of those things I do consider to be processed foods. Sometimes I do make my own bread, rarely do I make my own pasta but I've done it on occassion. I usually make my own salad dressings and stuff like that but today I used some prepared hoisin sauce and yesterday I used miracle whip and ketchup. Still, I eat a lot more unprocessed foods than I eat processed foods.

Oh, and I drink wine, which is processsed too but so good I can't say no

RhineDHP

Would you all eat this piece of food?


Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Pyridoxine, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Folate, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Phytosterols, Amino acids, Alanine,Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cystine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine,Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine,Proline, Serine,Threonine, Tryptophan,Tyrosine, Valine

I see what you did there.

On a side note, wow! Congrats on your weight loss! That's amazing!

poedunk65

watch "Hungry For a Change". Great movie that will inform you of what processed food really is.

It is a "food like" substance made to last a long time on the shelf and make the food companiews a huge profit.

keem88

unless you live in amish country, most things are processed. which isn't always a bad thing

jonnythan

watch "Hungry For a Change". Great movie that will inform you of what processed food really is.

It is a "food like" substance made to last a long time on the shelf and make the food companiews a huge profit.

If you think the goal of that film was to educate you in an unbiased manner, then you were totally and completely fooled.

Deipneus

Would you all eat this piece of food?


Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Pyridoxine, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Folate, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Phytosterols, Amino acids, Alanine,Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cystine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine,Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine,Proline, Serine,Threonine, Tryptophan,Tyrosine, Valine

I can't tell by just the name. Even water sounds scary when you call it by its chemical name: Dihydrogen Monoxide. Some people may not remember the old joke someone started to get it banned. A lot of people signed up! http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm

PikaKnight

I like this topic. OP, thank you for bringing this up because every time I hear people going on about processed food, I always think: "So you eat only raw foods?"

That would suck for me because I like cooking and baking lol

slkehl

I like this topic. OP, thank you for bringing this up because every time I hear people going on about processed food, I always think: "So you eat only raw foods?"

That would suck for me because I like cooking and baking lol

Exactly. I had a friend post this on my Facebook wall today:
"Avoid CRAP!
C-carbonated drinks
R-refined sugar
A-artificial sweetener
P-processed foods"

And I was pretty sure she wasn't meaning a raw diet when she said processed foods, but I wasn't sure what she meant. From the responses here, it seems like it's not so much unprocessed foods, but foods that you could potentially make yourself, judging by the ingredients list.

Mom4Liz

I trained as a Chef and basically processing a food is changing a food from one form to another so technically slicing a tomato is processing it. Most people when they talk about processed foods are referring to foods with chemicals or additives.

Both meanings are correct but I don't think anyone would consider the first example to be unhealthy.

Clean eating usually refers to eating foods made from natural ingredients.

misskerouac

watch "Hungry For a Change". Great movie that will inform you of what processed food really is.

It is a "food like" substance made to last a long time on the shelf and make the food companiews a huge profit.

That movie was just a huge commercial for juicing.

magerum

Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid, Pyridoxine, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Folate, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Phytosterols, Amino acids, Alanine,Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cystine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine,Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine,Proline, Serine,Threonine, Tryptophan,Tyrosine, Valine


^ This is an apple.

misskerouac

Also, this is one of my favourite charts when it comes to talking about what people consider "processed foods"

jonnythan

Also, this is one of my favourite charts when it comes to talking about what people consider "processed foods"

....... I can't tell if this is satire, or if someone was serious when they made it.

holothuroidea

I think that it's one of those things where everyone's definition is different, and completely apart from the actual technical definition.

I often use it for lack of a better term, and I don't find it to be "alarmist," just descriptive of foods that have non-nutritive additives or have had a lot of their nutrient value extracted. They're not "bad," but it does pose some difficulty getting all the nutrients you need in a calorie restricted diet if a large part of your calories are comprised of those foods.