Primer on how to define processed foods:
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While some processed foods should be consumed with caution, many actually have a place in a balanced diet. Here's how to sort the nutritious from the not-so-nutritious.
Processed food falls on a spectrum from minimally to heavily processed:- Minimally processed foods — like bagged spinach, cut vegetables and roasted nuts — are often simply pre-prepped for convenience.
- Foods processed at their peak to lock in nutritional quality and freshness include canned beans, tomatoes, frozen fruit and vegetables, and canned tuna.
- Foods with ingredients added for flavor and texture (sweeteners, spices, oils, colors and preservatives) include jarred pasta sauce, salad dressing, yogurt and cake mixes.
- Ready-to-eat foods, like crackers, granola, and deli meat, are more heavily processed.
- The most heavily processed foods often are frozen or pre-made meals like frozen pizza and microwaveable dinners.
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Some benefits of processed foods, from the webpage:
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- Milk and juices are sometimes fortified with calcium and vitamin D, and breakfast cereal may have added fiber. Canned fruit (packed in water or its own juice) is a good option when fresh fruit is not available.
- Some minimally processed food like pre-cut vegetables are quality convenience foods for busy people.
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When I'm trying to eat healthy, I don't judge based on whether a food is processed or not per se. Rather, I'll think about the nature of the processing, review the ingredients list for additives and preservatives, and then decide whether the food might be harmful for me.
So for me, "processed" in the negative sense depends on how many possibly unhealthy, unnatural ingredients are added to a food. For example, store-bought lemon juice contains added preservatives and buffer-agents. Store-bought Greek yogurt might be fine, but flavored yogurt might be a problem because the "fruit" flavoring is chemically synthesized, and instead of natural fruit sugars we have high-fructose corn-syrup instead.