# Processed Foods



## HappyAvocado (Oct 12, 2005)

that cool whip thread got me thinking.... i try to eat as few processed foods as possible (time permitting, of course), in part because homemade always tastes better and in part because i am an obsessive label reader and i wont eat anything if i dont know what it is... those foods with the long list of chemically sounding names in the ingredients, no way.  when i eat food that is good for me i just plain feel better, so for me it is an easy choice.  among the people i know i seem to be the minority, everybody loves their lipton onion soup mix and spagetti sauce in a jar and cold cuts.  wondering if there are any others out there as picky as i am about ingredients.


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## jennyema (Oct 12, 2005)

I'm with you, although I do not consider jarred spaghetti sauce, "processed food."

I stay away from "processed" food as much as possible both for health reasons and because I think it generally tastes terrible. And, of course, I love to cook.

I do love Stove Top stuffing, though.....


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## Piccolina (Oct 12, 2005)

You're not alone! In the past 5 years I have cut down big time on my processed food in take! In part due to my health (I eat around/for some medical issues) and partially because the longer I went without a lot of stuff the less I missed it! I treat myself to somethings like chocolate ('cuz boy is organic chocolate $$$), and marshmallows. I like to make whatever I can from scratch too, time and budget permitting! One thing that has bothered me my whole life is MSG! (As a child I would always get sick from Chinese restaurants, and did not learn why until later in life - the MSG!) Which can be really difficult to find as it can be labled under so many names!

I bought a consumers guide to food addictives and it comes in handy a lot! Not everything that is added to food is bad for you, some things are even helpful (vitamins, iron, etc) but a lot of the stuff in processed foods is well - questionable 

Props on being conscious about the chemicals/preservatives/addictives in food! (Lol, don't you find it takes five times as long to grocery shop when you read the lables? )


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## foodaholic (Oct 12, 2005)

I've gotten away from processed foods the last few years
and I'm a believer in the slow food movement.


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## Andy M. (Oct 12, 2005)

I try, as much as practical, to make stuff myself rather than buy it made.  There are obvious exceptions such as potato chips or mayonnaise.  I'm not always successful but it's a goal.

And, as jennyema said, I love to cook!


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## Zereh (Oct 12, 2005)

I'm with y'all on this. 99% of the time I am a cook from scratch person. I like knowing exactly what goes into my food. And I always like the taste much better. Whole foods fill me up and are full of nutrients. =) 


Z


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## Ishbel (Oct 12, 2005)

The only processed foods I eat are tinned sweetcorn, frozen peas, a very rare Scotch pie from my butchers and an occasional 'ready meal' from Marks & Spencer and even more rarely tinned tuna.  Everything else is from scratch!  Hate tinned veg or fruits, or any of the pasta sauces/curry sauces etc in jars.


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## Marishka_20 (Oct 12, 2005)

*Mmmmmmmm...food!*

I just love to eat so I guess that I have never really thought about it.


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## htc (Oct 12, 2005)

I'm of the same mindset as Jenny. I don't consider jarred spag. sauce processed. But once I started reading this thread and thinking, it makes me wonder why I (we) think this. 

Isn't it processed because it's pretty much the same as something like canned chili or canned enchiladas? (Which I think is VERY processed). This leads me to the question of what would be considered "processed"? Does anyone know if  there is a legal USDA definition? 

I tend to think that processed is anything that I can pop out of a can or box and eat (with or w/o heating it up). But then what about stuff like prepared tuna or salmon or crackers? Or even beans, which I don't consider processed, but they have been cooked and prepared and ready to use.

By adding rinsed canned beans to my chili, does it make my chili semi-processed? What is the difference had I cooked my own beans? Since I rinsed a lot of the sodium out of the canned stuff?

Sorry this is such a long post, but I find this topic really interesting!


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## Haggis (Oct 12, 2005)

I tend to think of processed foods as anything that has had something done to it to change it from a regular state (if that sort of makes sense).

I wouldn't consider canned tuna, tomatoes, beans, peas or other similar items 'processed' because they haven't had anything radically done to them (without getting really picky amount the canning process).

In that case the only real processed items I use are condiments (mustard, mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce etc) and stock cubes (as living on college with a stove that does not know the meaning of 'simmer')

I don't use any prepackaged meals or sauces, I depise them. I have always thought that even when you have little time to prepare a meal there is always something you can cook that can be considered 'homemade'.


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## Ishbel (Oct 13, 2005)

When I say I 'hate' tinned veg - I am not including tomatoes in that - they are a necessary part of many dishes I prepare, and have had minimal processing.  Hate things like tinned peas, baked beans, tinned spaghetti (Heinz' stuff is particularly awful, IMO) - don't like tinned fruits at all - and only freeze minimal amounts of fruits, preferring to eat fruits in due season. OK, that can make for pretty boring during the winters here, but we eat well and this means that things like strawberries and soft fruits are a 'look forward to' treat.


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## urmaniac13 (Oct 13, 2005)

ICadvisor said:
			
		

> One thing that has bothered me my whole life is MSG! (As a child I would always get sick from Chinese restaurants, and did not learn why until later in life - the MSG!) Which can be really difficult to find as it can be labled under so many names!


 
Right on Jess... I really detest that thing and that is one of my main reasons why I avoid any prepackaged, ready made foods, or like Jessica, Chinese restaurants (unless someone assures me with a positive review)... too many of them taste *solely of MSG*!!  I also make sure to choose the msg free version when I buy bouillon cube or granules.  I also check on the ingredients carefully, and avoid things that contain chemical ingredients.  
I don't care for tinned vegs either, except for tomatoes and corn kernels (of course fresh ones are better, but when they are out of season, it is an option), however I often make use of the frozen vegs out of season, I find them as passable substitutes.
Having said that, I must confess I still use two of the most common processed items, white flours and white sugar...  I haven't found any practical substitutes as yet...


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## Ishbel (Oct 13, 2005)

I don't really consider flour or sugar as 'processed' although, of course, they are. BUT, it's not like the processes required for say, a commercially manufactured meat pie or apple pie, or a tin of spaghetti in tomato sauce. 

I seriously dislike ready made salad 'dressings' - the French/Italian/whatever you like to name it stuff....   It doesn't take more than a couple of minutes to make up a batch of dressing!


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## HappyAvocado (Oct 13, 2005)

wow, interesting points from all... i was thinking these kind of things when i made up the poll, because as far as i know there is no strict definition of "processed" and i suppose that almost all food is processed in some way before it gets to me. so, for my own purposes i consider anything that is made into something else processed. canned foods like tomatos, not processed. canned tomato sauce with added sodium etc. to make it taste good, processed. canned corn, not processed, canned soup, very processed. i know that in actuality its all processed.. but for myself i try to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible, within reason...  and you just cant get fresh corn in the wintertime. gosh, i am always shocked by the amount of sodium in many ready to eat or ready to heat foods.

lol, i stopped using jared spagetti sauce a long time ago because i realised that it tastes just as good to take a can of salt free tomatoes (ingredients: tomatoes) and add some garlic and basil and salt and pepper. nobody in my family noticed the change and canned tomatoes cost half as much as the sauce in a jar.


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## urmaniac13 (Oct 13, 2005)

I am with you HappyAvocado, and it goes the same for me with something like "cream of mushroom soup".  I used to use this so much for so many recipes, and I was a bit stuck when I found out there is no such thing in Italy.  Then I figured out just making a bechamele with milk, butter, a little flour and touch of nutmeg, then add some real mushrooms or soaked bits of dry porcini is not just a substitute, but substancially better!!  What we consider here as "processed food" (not going so far as to include flour and sugar), it is very often much easier and takes less effort than you would think to make them by yourself, not to mention the taste, quality and health issue... it is a very good point to keep in mind..


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## Constance (Oct 13, 2005)

I try to stay away from processed meats...Spam, hot dogs, balogna...but I allow myself to indulge once in a while. 
I make a lot of homemade sauces, but I also utilize a lot of canned soups and pkts of soup and dressing mixes to save time. There have been great improvements made to convenience foods in the last 20 years, and I'm rolling with the changes. Physically, I'm in no shape to be making everything from scratch anymore. 
Some processed things I use a lot: canned soups, dry soup mixes, Italian and ranch dressing mixes, Rice-a-roni, Uncle Ben's and Zatarain's rice mixes, canned spaghetti sauces, Hormel real bacon bits, instant mashed potatoes, instant au gratin potatoes, stove-top stuffing, and cake mixes. By the time I get done with them, they taste good, and that's what my family cares about.

I also keep things on hand for our 17 year old, who's in and out at odd times...Easy Mac, Ready Rice, Ramen noodles, Franko American glop, Totino's Pizza Rolls, frozen pizzas...it goes downhill from there. He likes good food too, though, when I can get him to sit down long enough to eat it.


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## jennyema (Oct 13, 2005)

Frozen vegetables are generally just as nutritious as fresh vegetables.  I always have frozen peas, corn, limas and brussel sprouts on hand, as they are hard to find fresh.  Frozen spinach for lasagna, too.

I eat canned peas when I am depressed (childhood favorite).

I usually make my own tomato sauce/baked beans/bean soupand chili/soup, etc. but have no problem eating jarred sauce, canned baked beans, canned beans and some canned soup.

I cook a few things with oxtail soup mix and with dry veal demiglace.  Make dip from sour cream and ranch dressing packet (have tried Ina's onion dip and hated it).


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## Haggis (Oct 13, 2005)

I'm with you on this Ishbel, never used a preprepared salad dressing, never will.

They are utter rubbish and taste of nothing but sugar, and the consistency?! It's barely liquid. Nothing quicker than taking a base of OO and lemon juice or vinegar, then throwing whatever you want in to suit the salad (minced garlic, oregano, basil, dijon mustard etc etc).


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## lindatooo (Oct 14, 2005)

When DH really wants to make me peeved (cleaned up the word) he brings home a jar of "Spaghetti sauce".  I don't even like to have it in my pantry!

Veggies which are frozen or canned are generally picked at their peak and processed very little so I don't count them but I do read labels very carefully.  For instance Green Giant Very Sweet Nibletts have no sugar added but Green Giant Sweet Niblets do!  Go figure!

The tomaoes in the produce section during the winter taste like cardboard so I'd rather use canned which are picked ripe and not sprayed.  

I've tried Spam once in my life and that was enough. 

For luncheon meats I buy from the deli and never "pressed" meats - only roasted or baked ones.  

Scratch is what I prefer.


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## Deejay777 (Oct 16, 2005)

Haggis, what is OO? Is it water? I don't want to seem dumb but am not sure just what this is. I am new to some of the sayings. thanks


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## Andy M. (Oct 16, 2005)

OO= Olive Oil

EVOO=extra Virgin OO


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## Deejay777 (Oct 16, 2005)

Hey I think that I figured it out  I think that it is Olive Oil. Wow I'm getting smart am I not?


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## cartwheelmac (Nov 8, 2005)

A unhealthy processed food would be with anything with something on the label you can't pronouce, or with a lot of colors listed. 
_Always, Always_ read the ingredient list. That will tell you what is inside and whether or not you want to eat it or not.
Scratch is always best. That way you *know* what is in your food!
Wheat flour is better than white (because it has not been processed. Same goes for rice), butter is better than margerine (My mom says that margerine clogs your arteries), sugar is better than any substitute (My mom also says that sugar substitute embalms your body). 

Any questions?

Cameron


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## Andy M. (Nov 8, 2005)

Hi, Mac:

You sound like an intelligent young man.  It's always good to have those around.  You have some good ideas about foods.  Everyone should know and understand what's in the food they eat.

Whole wheat flour *is* more nutricious than white flour but that doesn't mean white flour is bad stuff.  Actually, even whole wheat bread has white flour in it.

I also prefer sugar to the sugar substitutes but a diabetic has to rely on substitutes to help control their disease.

Many of the foods we eat are processed to a greater or lesser extent.  It's important to know what the processing is and what it does to the food in question.  Some processing is needed to make some raw foods edible.


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## Constance (Nov 9, 2005)

Unless I have good leftovers in the fridge, I eat a lot of canned soups for lunch, and it's always interesting to read the ingredients on those. I choose the ones that are lower in fat and calories, as I like to keep my lunch under 500 calories, including skim milk and crackers. Of course they are full of sodium, but most of the other ingredients sound pretty healthy, until you look a little closer, and see that the fat is replaced with sugar, corn syrup (more sugar) and cornstarch (turns into sugar). 
Still, they're quick, are loaded with vegies, and must surely be healthier than lunchmeat.


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## cartwheelmac (Dec 4, 2005)

Andy M. said:
			
		

> Hi, Mac:
> 
> You sound like an intelligent young man. It's always good to have those around. You have some good ideas about foods. Everyone should know and understand what's in the food they eat.
> 
> ...



You should give the credit to my mother. Well I knew the wheat/white flour thing because I gave a speech for a 4-H contest talking about the wheat kernel.

Cameron


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## Michael_Schaap (Dec 5, 2005)

*I'm here... but not necessarily by choice*

Now I am not eating processed food. But it all came about because of a forced choice actually. From a heart condition that resulted with an operation some weeks ago I am on a cardiac diet. Low sodium, low fat. As you probably know, processed food is pretty much out of the question for me now. Not that things did not taste good before. I loved and still love hot dogs, hard salami, corned beef and probably 20 dozen other things that are processed to death (ony been 3 weeks). "Processed to death"... what a strange sounding phrase to use now. A phrase "Death with processed food" now vividly comes to mind.

I can say though that things taste a lot better now. I am concerned about coming home with the energy to cook... about taking lunches (but I think I'm going to cook larger dinners so I have a lot of leftover for lunch). About being able to restrain from eating junk food that my wife loves.. or that I happen to come about during my day and there is no food conviently available. Cooking and food is now more complicated for me. On the plus side I do LOVE to cook. I even started to make my own bread again (used to do it all the time). I finished school, started to work, got married and poof... got lazy! No really... I GOT LAZY. I started drinking slim fast shakes because of convience.

The nice thing is all this is happening when I'm pretty young... 38 years old. So I have basically a life time of ability to reap the benifits of healthy eating and life style changes that for many who would have needed to be "forced" into this change, would not have been till probably much later in life. With all that is happening I suppose I am trying to see the positive side of things (what else can you do huh ).

One thing that is interesting is some of the reactions I get from people. Some have told me that because of what they have seen with me, they will change the way they eat as well... be more health conscious. Yeah right... this takes work and is not that easy... I just can't get a Big Mac anymore (although a friend of mine who just can't believe I had a heart attack in my mid 20s without knowing it went to the doctor for a checkup. He wants to make sure his health, expecially cardiac health, is not completely out of control). Another thing is some people have said... oh yeah... you are changing now, but wait 6 months. It will all come back. Well, I hope not. The book I am reading says that for many it happens like that. Makes me very nervous though. Every doctor I have seen so far has told me the same thing... you have Coronary artery disease... your heart is VERY WEAK.... there is no going back to how you lived before. Everything has changed for you.


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## urmaniac13 (Dec 6, 2005)

MS, I am happy for you that now you are well on your come back trail to regain your health, and that you have found the joy of healthier eating.  Yes, I agree it takes hard work and dedication, but it will be worth it.  And it is a good thing that you enjoy cooking.  As you may be starting to realise, that healthy eating doesn't mean boring or tasteless at all, with some creativity and zest for research.  There are tips and ideas for healthy, tasty, easy&quick-to-prepare dinners and lunches abound, here in this forum, on internet or bookshops.  Absorb all the information that is useful to you, and soon you will be enjoying things much tastier and more interesting than Slim Fast!!
I was born with a hole in the heart which they had to operate on when I was 5.  I was told any endurance exercise or sports were to be avoided for the rest of my life.  However I became involved in physical fitness when I was 18 or 19, certainly my endurance was not my fortè at the beginning and I had to build it up very carefully, but now I can go for an hour of intense Spinning or Fitboxe regularly with more energy left to do some other exercises afterwards.  You must have your health level monitored closely with your doctors for sure, but do not dispair about the loss, where there is a will, there is a way.  You are still young, and if you stay on a right track I am sure you will have many, many fullfilling years ahead of you!!  Good luck and keep it up!!


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## Gerrycooks (Dec 6, 2005)

Have you read the label on a tuna fish can lately? Most have some sort of protein added. I only buy pure tuna with no additives.
I am with Piccolina I am sensitive to MSG and its cousin HVP or hydrolized vegetable protein. 
After eating battered fish at a national seafood restaurant I felt like I had a hangover the next day. I contacted the restaurant and asked what was in the batter and they told me HVP was in the batter. If you are sensitive to MSG you will probably react to HVP.
I cook from scratch. Once in a while I will eat prepared food but I usually pay for it. 
If I buy hot dogs I buy low salt Kosher all beef for a rare treat. Mechanically separated chicken doesn't sound appetizing as a hot dog meat.


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