How can you tell if food is processed?!
Question: I hear all this hooplah about not eating processed foods. But how can you tell if a certain food is processed or not?
Answers: I hear all this hooplah about not eating processed foods. But how can you tell if a certain food is processed or not?
Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons and for convenience. The methods used for processing foods include canning, freezing, refrigeration, dehydration and aseptic processing.
We tend to think of processed foods as bad, but it turns out that many processed foods are not unhealthy. For example, milk would be considered a processed food because it is pasteurized to kill bacteria and homogenized to keep fats from separating. While some people prefer to drink raw milk, most of us should consume the "processed" version we find in our grocery stores.
Another healthy example of food processing is frozen vegetables. While fresh may be best, freezing vegetables preserves vitamins and minerals and makes them convenient to cook and eat all year around. Fruit and vegetable juice is also an example of a healthy processed food. In fact, some orange juice is fortified with calcium to make it even more nutritious.
Of course, there are a lot of processed foods that aren't good for you. Many processed foods are made with trans fats, saturated fats, and large amounts of sodium and sugar. These types of foods should be avoided, or at least eaten sparingly.
Processed foods that may not be as healthy as fresh foods include:
canned foods with lots of sodium
white breads and pastas made with refined white flour, which are not as healthy as those made with whole grains
packaged high-calorie snack foods, like chips and cheese snacks
high-fat convenience foods, like cans of ravioli
frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners
packaged cakes and cookies
boxed meal mixes
sugary breakfast cereals
processed meats
Processed meats might be some of the worst of these foods. Eating these meats may increase your risk of colorectal, kidney and stomach cancer. Processed meats include hot dogs, bologna, sausage, ham and other packaged lunch meats.
These processed foods and prepackaged meals are very convenient and popular. If you do shop for these foods, be sure to look for products that are made with whole grains, low in sodium and calories, and free of trans fats. Make sure you pay attention to serving size, too, and balance out the processed foods you eat with a delicious fresh salad and some whole grain bread.
If it comes in a package
If it is not in its natural form it is processed. Eg flour is the processed form of wheat, jam is the processed form of fruit, etc
If it comes packaged and is not from the health food isle and does not state that it is "unprocessed" then chances are that it is processed.
Fruit, veges, some nuts, some grains, some lentils may all come unprocessed.
Is it processed or preservatives your worried about. Processed food comes in packages. If it's preservatives your worried about read the ingredients list it will state preservatives and additives there, usually in numbers.
Processed foods include the following items: Hot dogs, vienna sausages, luncheon meats, sliced or whole ham, the kind for sanwhiches, which include turkey and other meats, such as described as "deli meats."Items such as TV dinners,lean cuisine dinners,potted meats and meat spreads,frozen pizza.Most all foods which are prepared for cunsumption and already cooked.Not such things as frozen veggies, or fresh items.but does include fish sticks, crab patties and crab burgers. another words ,meals at McDonalds is processed. canned goods are processed, but not to the point of that they are so bad you shouldn;t have them in your diet.Pizza sauce is processed..