Processed Defined

A friend asked the other day what the actual definition is of “processed food.”  I had the same question when I started on my journey to rid my home of it.  I still don’t have a definitive answer to that question, as I think it depends at least somewhat on what your ultimate goal is when it comes to processed food.  If you want to eat the most real, most fresh, most whole food possible for every meal, every day, move to a big farm, buy some cattle and chickens, a lot of seeds, and good luck.  That doesn’t work for me; I try to eat as minimally processed as possible, with a little convenience thrown in here and there. 

According to livestrong.com, “The United States Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Section 201, Chapter II, (gg) defines processed food as "any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing, such as canning, cooking, freezing, dehydration, or milling."“  I tried finding this definition myself on the FDA website, but had no such luck – surprise surprise, it’s very difficult to find what you’re looking for on that website!

According to the definition above, it’s virtually impossible to eat no processed food whatsoever, unless everything you eat is plucked from your backyard and eaten raw. I know raw is best when it comes to veggies, but sometimes I just like a nice piping hot bowl of vegetable soup.

The 100 Days pledge allows for store-bought items with less than five ingredients.  I like this.  It allows for some convenience, but with minimal additives.  However, even if there are less than five ingredients, if I can’t pronounce one of them, I’m not buying it!

I think the easiest rule of thumb to follow is to make everything that you can from scratch.  If you need to buy something premade or packaged, just read the ingredients.  If you don’t know what something is, don’t buy it.  It can be a bit overwhelming at first, reading all those labels, but it gets easier.  Once you get the hang of it, your trips to the grocery store take much less time (and cost less money) – you’ll find that you stick mainly to the perimeter of the store, with just a couple of exceptions (olive oil, frozen veggies every now and then).  Forewarning, checkout can take a lot longer, with the cashier having to type in all the produce codes; I am not the favorite customer at my regular grocery store!

I’d love to hear some of the surprises – positive or negative – that you’ve encountered while reading ingredient labels.  Please share in the comments.