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Processed Foods: What's OK and What To Avoid: Reviewed by Taylor Wolfram, MS, RDN, LDN Published February 11, 2019

Processed foods fall on a spectrum from minimally to heavily processed. Minimally processed foods like bagged spinach are simply pre-prepped for convenience, while heavily processed foods like frozen pizza and microwaveable dinners often contain added sugars, salt, and other preservatives. While processed foods can help increase nutrient intake when fortified, they are major sources of added sugars and sodium. It is best to limit heavily processed foods and do more home cooking based on whole foods like vegetables, beans and whole grains to minimize intake of added sugars and sodium.

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222 views2 pages

Processed Foods: What's OK and What To Avoid: Reviewed by Taylor Wolfram, MS, RDN, LDN Published February 11, 2019

Processed foods fall on a spectrum from minimally to heavily processed. Minimally processed foods like bagged spinach are simply pre-prepped for convenience, while heavily processed foods like frozen pizza and microwaveable dinners often contain added sugars, salt, and other preservatives. While processed foods can help increase nutrient intake when fortified, they are major sources of added sugars and sodium. It is best to limit heavily processed foods and do more home cooking based on whole foods like vegetables, beans and whole grains to minimize intake of added sugars and sodium.

Uploaded by

Bakialetchumy Tanasikaran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Processed Foods: What's OK and What to Avoid

Reviewed by Taylor Wolfram, MS, RDN, LDN

Published February 11, 2019

What Is Processed Food?

"Processed food" includes food that has been cooked, canned, frozen, packaged or changed
in nutritional composition with fortifying, preserving or preparing in different ways. Any time
we cook, bake or prepare food, we're processing food.

Processed food falls on a spectrum from minimally to heavily processed:

 Minimally processed foods — such as bagged spinach, cut vegetables and roasted
nuts — often are simply pre-prepped for convenience.

 Foods processed at their peak to lock in nutritional quality and freshness include
canned 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 — such as crackers, granola and deli meat — are more heavily
processed.

 The most heavily processed foods often are pre-made meals including frozen pizza
and microwaveable dinners.

The Positives of Processed

Processed food can help you eat more nutrient-dense foods. Milk and juices sometimes are
fortified with calcium and vitamin D, and breakfast cereals 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 such as pre-cut vegetables and pre-washed, bagged spinach
are quality convenience foods for busy people.

If you want to minimize your intake of processed food, aim to do more food prep and
cooking at home. Base meals on whole foods including vegetables, beans and whole grains.

Look for Hidden Sugar and Sodium

Eating processed food in moderation is fine, but many of these foods may contain high
amounts of added sugar and sodium.

Added Sugars

Added sugars are any sugar that is not naturally occurring in the food and has been added
manually.Added sugars aren't just hidden in processed sweets. They're added to bread to
give it an appealing browned hue, and there often is a surprising amount added to jarred
pasta sauces and cereal. Added sugars often are used in low-fat foods to improve taste and
consistency. The grams of carbohydrate on the Nutrition Facts label also includes naturally
occurring sugars which may be a significant amount in foods such as yogurt and fruit.
Instead, review a product's ingredient list and look for added sugars among the first two or
three ingredients including sugar, maltose, brown sugar, corn syrup, cane sugar, honey and
fruit juice concentrate.

Sodium

Processed foods are major contributors of sodium in our diets because salt is commonly
added to preserve foods and extend shelf life. Most canned vegetables, soups and sauces
have added salt. Choose foods labeled no salt added, low-sodium or reduced-sodium to
decrease the amount of salt you're consuming from processed foods.

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