As I’ve mentioned before, my degrees are in Food Science… which means I was trained to work in the food industry.  That I didn’t end up there is really a quirk of fate.  While most of my fellow students moved into jobs with Pillsbury, General Mills, General Foods, RJR Nabisco and other well-known companies,  I stayed with the university to do research; crossing the aisle (so to speak) from applied science to pure. 

Nonetheless, I’ve retained my interest in food/food processing issues… which is why it sometimes drives me nuts to see articles from various wannabe gurus and nutrition writers ranting about the evils of  ”processed foods.”  I understand the point(s) they’re trying to make, but their definition of  “processed food” is very different than mine.  When they talk about “processed food”, they mean the high-sugar/high fat, low fiber, high sodium, additive-rich snack/convenience/junk faux foods so many people know and love.  But this is NOT an accurate definition.

So what’s a processed food?  ROFL!  It would actually be easier to ask, “what ISN’T a processed food?”  Truth is, outside of the whole, intact veggies and fruits in the produce bins, just about everything edible in the store is a “processed food”… “organic” or “all-natural” notwithstanding.

Don’t believe me?  What about that bag of natural, old-fashioned oatmeal?  Well, the oats have to be harvested, cleaned, heated, hulled, cut and flaked/rolled before they’re dispensed into units for sale.  Natural peanut butter?  Same deal.  The harvested peanuts have to be sorted, cleaned, washed, shelled, roasted, blanched, debittered, and ground before they end up in those familiar jars you see on the store shelves.

Get the picture? Even foods we think of as ”natural” are put through the wringer before they end up in the familar store box, jar, bag or bin. They’re all PROCESSED – and they have to be.  Many of them would be inedible (or simply unavailable) if they weren’t.  Whether you like the idea or not, our society runs on processed foods.  We live on what author James Burke calls “technology islands”… our way of life would be impossible without the miracle (yes, miracle!) of processed foods.

So does this mean processed foods are actually healthy?  Not necessarily.  The real issue we need to focus on is the degree of processing.  But processing itself isn’t inherently a negative… Instead, of uncritically demonizing “processed foods”, we need to look at individual products, and see what’s been done to them.