Good Processed Foods

What Are Processed Foods?

By Shereen Jegtvig

We tend to think of processed foods as bad, but it turns out that some processed foods are not bad for your health at all. For example, milk would be considered a processed food because it's pasteurized to kill bacteria and homogenized to keep fats from separating. Some people prefer raw milk, but it can lead to lead to food-borne illness, so we're happy to consume the healthy "processed" milk we find in our grocery stores.

Another example of good food processing is frozen vegetables. 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. Oatmeal, frozen fish, frozen berries and 100% whole-grain bread are also processed foods that are good.

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.

After reading this article it really opened my eyes up to how the process of processed foods were intended.  I do think initially processing foods was for the general health of the public.  The way we process milk and vegetables is a prime example as pointed out in the article "What are Processed Foods".  THe reality is something scary happened within the food industry.  The science of processed foods advanced and eating trends changed.  Instead of eating potatoes grown in the ground people moved towards box potatoes.  The shelf life is longer, very quick to make and usually much cheaper, that is one example.  We need to be more educated on good and bad processed foods.

Work Cited: What Are Processed Foods?

By Shereen Jegtvig