Often, we hear food referred to as processed or ultra-processed, but there’s little explanation of what that really means and how much of the food we eat falls into these categories. Even health-conscious individuals sometimes forget that many of the health foods they consume, like granola bars, protein powders, and meat alternatives are considered processed and ultra-processed. For anyone looking for a simple explanation of what processed food really is, this overview is for you. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR1 17.3) defines the processing of food as “making food from one or more ingredients, or synthesizing, preparing, treating, modifying or manipulating food, including food crops or ingredients.” Examples of processing include “baking, boiling, bottling, canning, cooking…extracting juice, formulating, freezing, grinding,” and more. 

Simply stated, processed food is any food that has been changed from its natural state. Generally, I like to think of it as any food that comes in a package and doesn’t look like its raw form. There are different levels to how processed a food is, but the two categories to pay attention to are “processed” and “ultra-processed.”

Processed foods are usually made with just a few ingredients, and their natural state is still recognizable. Canned foods like tuna, beans, and tomatoes are perfect examples. Ultra-processed foods, on the other hand, are made from a long list of ingredients, many of which are food additives, and their natural state is not recognizable. Foods like veggie burgers, bread, protein bars, cereal, soda, cookies, and crackers fall into this category. Basically, the minute you step out of the produce and meat sections of the grocery store, you enter processed food territory.

Based on these definitions, it’s easy to see how processed foods makeup much of our diets today, which is concerning because evidence shows diets high in these staples are linked to chronic health conditions like obesity, heart disease, cancer, and more. If you step back and really think about it, is it that surprising that diets high in essentially lab produced products cause negatives impacts to our health? Have you really every read the ingredients on a box of children’s breakfast cereal out loud? If not, I challenge you to do so. 

There are many things in life we can’t control, but one thing we can control is what we put into our bodies. One of the best steps you can take is to limit your consumption of processed food and avoid ultra-processed food completely. I get it, making every snack and meal from scratch is not realistic for most people, including myself. So, when you do choose to consume processed food, make sure to read the label and opt for products with minimal ingredients and additives using the following guide:

This isn’t a complete list, but it provides a good starting point of the top offenders. You should try to avoid purchasing products with any of these ingredients, but since that’s not always realistic, a good rule of thumb to follow is if a product has more than two of the above ingredients, definitely don’t buy it. As you become more comfortable with reading ingredient labels and recognizing food additives, you can continue to broaden your knowledge and set your own guidelines.

I hope this overview provides clarity on processed and ultra-processed foods. If you’re not already reading labels, I encourage you to start immediately to help make informed product selections. Improving awareness and questioning ingredients—not leaving our health in the hands of corporations and regulators—is a critical step towards making empowered food choices.