Nutrition

Processed Food

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Processed Food, Ultra-Processed Food, Highly Processed Food

  • See Also
  1. Healthy Diet
  • Background
  1. Processed Foods are on a continuum from whole foods to Ultra-Processed Foods
  2. Each recommended food group (fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts) have a a variety of forms
    1. Whole foods and minimally Processed Foods are preferred
    2. Identify healthy alternatives to Ultra-Processed Foods
  • Types
  • Whole Foods (Preferred)
  1. Whole foods are still in their natural form (priority for healthy eating)
  2. Examples
    1. Raw leafy vegetables (e.g. salad greens, spinach)
    2. Cooked, chopped or raw vegetables (e.g. fresh broccoli, carrots)
    3. Fresh fruit (e.g. apple, banana, orange)
    4. Wild game
  • Types
  • Minimally Processed Foods (Preferred)
  1. Modified for preservation, preparation or taste
  2. Foods that have undergone minimal physical processing (e.g. cutting, freezing, peeling, drying)
  3. Examples
    1. Frozen spinach
    2. Plain dry-roasted nuts, ground peanuts (nut butter without other ingredients)
    3. Plain yogurt (from fermented milk)
    4. Brown rice, whole quinoa, steel-cut oats, whole-wheat pasta, Farro
    5. Dried lentils, frozen peas, edemame, dried beans
    6. Fresh or frozen poultry, beef, pork, fish or eggs without flavorings, colorings or preservatives
    7. Pasteurized milk
    8. Fresh cheese (e.g, cottage cheese, ricotta, mozzarella)
  • Types
  • Processed Foods
  1. Foods with added (e.g. salt, sugar, oil) or subtracted components
  2. Consume in moderation
  3. Examples
    1. Tofu (solids extracted from soaked soybeans)
    2. Canned peaches (with added syrup)
    3. Jarred tomatoes (with added salt and oil)
    4. Canned beans with salt
    5. Aged Cheese (prepared from salt, milk, culture and rennet)
    6. Hummus with Garlic and lemon juice
    7. Whole wheat bread or whole grain crackers
    8. Peanut butter with salt
    9. Salted nuts
    10. Nut butters with added salt and oil
    11. Canned tuna in oil
    12. Smoked salmon
    13. Canned chicken with salt
    14. Pickled vegetables in vinegar and salt
  • Types
  • Processed Culinary Ingredients
  1. Foods that have components removed through pressing, refining or milling
  2. Use sparingly in meal preparation and cooking
  3. Prefer healthier alternatives (e.g. steel-cut oats or whole oats)
  4. Examples
    1. White rice, white pasta, white flour
    2. Grain porridge (e.g. Cream of Wheat)
    3. Instant oats
    4. Refined sugars from grains
    5. Fruit juice concentrates
    6. Soybean oil
    7. Peanut oil
    8. Butter, cream
    9. Lard
    10. Meat-based cooking stock
  • Types
  • Ultra-Processed Foods
  1. Highly engineered, industrial formulations of food extracts
  2. Foods with 5 or more chemically modified components
  3. Limit consumption, and substitute with less Processed Foods
  4. Highly processed Ingredients
    1. Hydrogenated fats (vegetable shortening, stick margarine, trans-fats)
    2. Protein isolates (e.g. isolates from whey, soy, pea, beef or egg white Protein)
    3. Modified starches (e.g. Acetylated, oxidized, pre-gelatinized or Hydroxypropyl Starch; distarch phosphate)
    4. Foods with additives (e.g. emulsifiers, anti-caking agents)
  5. Highly Processed Food Examples
    1. Fruit candies with synthetic colorings and preservatives
    2. Fruit drinks with artificial flavoring and coloring
    3. Snack chips with refined grains (and emulsifiers, sweeteners, flavor enhancers)
    4. Breakfast cereals with sugar and artificial flavors and colors
    5. Instant noodles with flavor packets
    6. Canned baked beans with added sugar and flavorings
    7. Candy-coated nuts or nut bars with additives
    8. Instant mashed potatoes (with preservatives and emulsifiers)
    9. Canned corn (with added sugars, modified starches and artificial flavorings
    10. Industrial cheese spreads
    11. Dairy-like creamers
    12. Hot dogs
    13. Chicken nuggets
    14. Deli meats
    15. Dried meat flavored snacks (e.g. beef sticks)
    16. Frozen breaded fish sticks
  • Adverse Effects
  • Ultra-Processed Foods
  1. Highly Processed Foods are calorie dense, displacing healthier foods and satiety
    1. Results in greater weight gain and worse overall nutritional intake
    2. Hall (2019) Cell Metab 30(1): 67-77 [PubMed]
    3. Dicken (2025) Nat Med 31(10): 3297-308 [PubMed]
  2. Highly Processed Food-based diets increase the risk for diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease
    1. Lane (2024) BMJ 384:e077310 [PubMed]
    2. Monteiro (2025) Lancet 406(10520):2667-84 [PubMed]
    3. Tan (2024) Front Nutr 11: 1481363 [PubMed]
    4. Wang (2023) Nutr J 22(1): 46 [PubMed]
  • Resources
  1. Eight simple ways to reduce Ultra-Processed Foods in your diet (Harvard)
    1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-nutrition/8-simple-ways-to-reduce-ultra-processed-foods-in-your-diet
  2. Most of the Foods We Eat Are Ultra-Processed. Are They All Unhealthy? (Johns Hopkins)
    1. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/what-are-ultra-processed-foods
  • References
  1. Lesser (2026) Am Fam Physician 114(2): 132-8 [PubMed]
  2. Monteiro (2019) Public Health Nutr 22(5):936-41 +PMID: 30744710 [PubMed]