The Truth About Processed Foods

Society is saturated with conversations about how complying with the newest fad diet will be the answer to every health problem under the sun. “Clean eating” is a term associated with fad diets that aim to eliminate processed food from the diet to achieve a “healthy lifestyle.” The word polarizes food as either clean or dirty, synonymous with good or bad; “clean” being food in its natural, unaltered state, and “dirty” being anything having undergone some form of processing. But processed foods do not have to be eliminated to achieve optimal health. Virtually everything we eat is processed to some extent, but that doesn’t mean everything we eat will impact our health negatively. Eliminating processed foods means negating the histories of our ancestors who learned how to bake bread, culture butter, and cultivate crops that fed their societies and removing the convenience of receiving adequate nutrition in our modern society. This post will talk about what processed foods are, why they can be part of a healthful lifestyle, and the impacts of restricting them from our diet.

What Are Processed Foods?

Processed foods include any food that has been altered from its original state. The Institute of Food Technology states that “...heating, pasteurizing, canning, fermenting, and drying…” are forms of processing food. If we expand on this definition of food processing, then microwaving, baking, freezing, filtering, or pressurizing are other methods utilized to create processed foods. Olive oil, peanut butter, yogurt, canned tomatoes, and jams are all processed foods that are staples in many diets due to their nutrient density, extended shelf-life, and accessibility. By eliminating all foods subjected to these processes, a considerable chunk of our diet is eliminated.

Added ingredients are another way that foods change from their altered state. Processed foods have a bad rap for containing gums, fillers, and chemicals, all of which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for being non-toxic to our health. The FDA has regulations to prevent carcinogens and other toxic elements from being allowed in our food. Chemicals are in everything we eat – even macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are chemical compounds that provide us with the energy we need to live. These added ingredients increase shelf life, improve accessibility, and fortify products with micronutrients to prevent nutrient deficiencies in the population. 

Why Processed Foods Aren’t Bad

Processed foods provide a convenient vehicle for food to provide us with energy to live our daily lives. On-the-go snacks and portable meals are all ways to provide us with enough fuel during a busy day. They also ensure nutrition security amongst populations where food must be imported, and provide a safe form of receiving nutrition for susceptible populations.

The narrative around processed foods being bad for our health perpetuates guilt and stigma in communities and demographics that rely on processed foods to feed their families. Processing food allows flavor and nutrition to be maintained as it’s transported across the country to food deserts, and those otherwise wouldn’t have access to enough safe nutrition. About 23.5 million people in the United States live in food deserts – locations that lack grocery stores or arable land for growing food. Nearly half of the population of people living in food deserts are considered low-income, and as a result, their food choices are often limited. Canned and frozen food, two forms of processed food, are affordable and reliable for lower-income families to receive adequate nutrition.

For those with underlying health conditions and/or immunocompromised, processed foods provide a safe way to receive nutrition security. Those living with cancer are encouraged to find adequate nutrition through a neutropenic diet, which eliminates certain fresh foods that could contain bacteria that would be harmful to them while undergoing treatments. When foods are pasteurized, heated at high temperatures, or frozen, bacteria cannot survive, and the food is safe to eat for those abiding by these medically-necessary diets.

Processed foods are great ways of attaining adequate nutrition in our daily lives. They serve the purpose of providing us with the nutrients that our bodies need to survive and give us the energy to do the things we love. It’s important that we move away from shaming certain foods and those who want or need to eat them, and move towards the understanding that a balanced diet can include all foods, including those that have been processed.

References:

“11 Facts about Food Deserts.” DoSomething.org, 2015, www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-food-deserts#:~:text=About%2023.5%20million%20people%20live,10%20miles%20from%20a%20supermarket.. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.

“Why All the Confusion about Processed Foods.” Ift.org, 15 Dec. 2021, www.ift.org/news-and-publications/blog/2019/march/why-all-the-confusion-about-processed-foods. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.

Harris, Marcus. “Food Shaming: The War on Poverty’s Collateral Damage.” The Marcus Harris Foundation, 2019, marcusharrisfoundation.org/blog/f/food-shaming-the-war-on-povertys-collateral-damage. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.

Simon, Matt. “Let’s All Just Chill about Processed Foods.” Wired, WIRED, 9 Sept. 2019, www.wired.com/story/processed-foods/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.