If you've read a newspaper, watched TV, browsed through social media, or even seen a billboard lately, there's no question you've heard about "processed foods" and how bad they are. But, what exactly is processed food and what does it mean for the average consumer? The United States Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Section 201 Chapter II 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.". Pretty vague huh? When most people talk of "harmful" processed foods, they are usually referring to boxes of cookies, ready-to-eat meals that come from the freezer or in a can, and neon orange cheese puffs. Let's dive deep into processed foods and see what they are all about.
The Good
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| See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
With all of the negative media surrounding processed food, it's easy to forget that processing has been around since before ancient times. Early food processing came in the form of preservation that was a necessity for survival. In arctic climates, early man would freeze food in the ice to keep it from spoiling. In warmer tropical environments, man would dry meats and vegetables in the sun or smoke them over a fire to enable longer storage time. This allowed man to adopt a more stable lifestyle that did not require daily hunting and movement to follow herds of animals. Other early methods of food processing for the purpose of preservation included pickling, curing, and sugar packing. In 1795 Nicolas Appert discovered that heating foods sealed in glass bottles prevented them from spoiling, and canning was invented. By the mid 1810s the first commercial canning factories opened, changing everything in the food world. Canning allowed vegetables to be packed at the peak of freshness, bringing consumers better nutrition and taste to consumers. Canning also allowed for more affordable and safer methods of food storage and meant that the consumer was less affected by a single bad growing season. Fast forward to the 20th century and food processing brought much more to the table. Ready-to-eat meal technology, developed to supply food to soldiers during WWI, was brought into the family kitchen post-war as a way to save time for housewives. The 1920s also saw the introduction of many treats that are still popular today including Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Baby Ruth Bars, Yoo-hoo, and even Kool-aid. During the great depression, poor families were able to cut costs by consuming more canned vegetables and beans and less meat. As time passed, even more convenience items such as boxed cake mix and refrigerated pie crust were introduced. As soldiers returned from WWII and the dual-income family became increasingly popular, America saw the rise of the fast food restaurant, allowing families to get a quick and tasty meal for a great value. The 1950s brought us even more processed food with products like TV dinners, and artificial sweeteners like Sweet n' Low which allowed people to enjoy their sweet foods without the calories they typically came with. Fortified foods such as Wonder Bread, orange juice with vitamin D, and even iodized salt allowed people to get nutrients that they would otherwise miss from their regular diet. The evolution of processed food goes hand and hand with the evolution of American in the 19th and 20th centuries and, during each step of the way, had an important positive influence on the county. However, all good things come at a cost...
The Bad
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| By Unknown photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Despite all of positive effects of food processing, including increased safety and decreased cost, there are some serious negative effects. Unfortunately, these days our processed foods include a lot more than canned beans and veggies. Grocery stores are filled with unnatural looking and tasting products including bright orange cheese snacks, over-sweetened breakfast pastries, and fully-cooked frozen dinners that "taste just like grandma made". All of these items are highly delicious and addictive but, at what cost. As soon as fresh foods are picked they begin to lose their taste and nutrients almost immediately. As the cooking, transforming, storing, and packing processes take place these these products continue to lose more and more flavor. In order to boost the flavors back up, companies add "flavor enhancers" in the form of salt, fat and sugar. The more processed a food is, the more "junk" is needed to make it taste good again. An over-abundance of these macro-nutrients in the American diet have been the leading causes of the American obesity epidemic. In addition, foods high in salt, fat, sugar, and carbohydrates are proven to cause hypertension, high cholesterol, and heat disease. One Mayo Clinic study estimates that 75% of all sodium consumed by the average American comes from processed food and not from natural sources. In addition to being overloaded with these macronutrients, a quick look at the ingredients label exposes another major issue. Many of the boxes found on grocery shelves contain ingredients that the average person can't even pronounce. In general, all of these chemicals do one of three things 1)enhance flavors by adding more fat or sugar 2)preserve foods by adding salt or other stabilizers 3)make food look more appealing with chemical coloring. In short, chemicals are added to make the "food" look and taste better than it actually is. In addition, processed foods are often very low in fiber and high in unhealthy oils. When it comes to having a healthy diet, a limiting processed foods is a major factor. Being aware of the information found on the nutrition label and in the ingredients list is extremely important. Using these tools, we can enjoy our favorite foods in moderation while maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The Ugly
Unfortunately, there's a little more to this story than what's on the nutrition label. Processed foods are designed to be "hyper rewarding". This means that they are specifically engineered to be highly appealing to us on a subconscious level. This is why it can sometimes be hard to eat just a few of your favorite chips or cookies. Since our love of these unhealthy foods goes beyond self-control, we are highly susceptible to overcompensation and even addiction to these foods.
Unhealthy Foods + Overconsumption = Recipe for Disaster
In addition to the "hyper rewarding" scenario. Processed foods commonly contain some ingredients that are especially ugly. Trans fats have been incorporated into processed foods since the early 1900s. Once thought to be a healthier alternative to butter, trans fats have been discovered much less healthy than other fats including butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. The reason trans fats are considered especially dangerous is because not only do they raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol, but they also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol. To make matters worse, trans fats are everywhere. Fried foods, pastries, margarine, ice cream, frozen meals, and cookies all contain trans fats; Think of anytime the word "hydrogenated" was on the nutrition label of something you bought.
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By jeffreyw (Want fries with that?) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Finally, we must address the commonly discussed but never explained category of "chemicals". These are the substances that are added to improve shelf life, taste, texture, color, and even smell of processed foods. Common names for these are nitrates, artificial and natural flavors, and coloring agents. Many of these substances are believed to cause a number of illnesses including ulcers, heart disease, and even cancer. What makes these ingredients so ugly is that companies are allowed to use the term "natural or artificial flavors" to list their proprietary blend of chemical flavorings in lieu of actually listing each ingredient. This makes it extremely difficult to know what exactly goes into the processed foods we love so much.
The Bottom Line
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The bottom line is that, when looking at all of the information, the story of processed foods is a complex one. Processed foods do a great job making a wide variety of foods readily available to us for a low price, regardless of the current farming conditions. Canned, frozen, and boxes foods also have a tremendous impact in making it possible for a families where both parents work, to still prepare their own meals (think of how time consuming it would be to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if you had to bake the bread, grind the peanut butter, and make the jelly all of scratch). Despite all of the good things that processed food has, and continues to provide, there are some scary down sides. Processed foods often contain unnaturally high levels of salt, sugar, and fat. This makes them an unhealthy alternative for constant use. In addition to poor nutrition, processed foods are commonly known to contain some scary and very unhealthy additives. For most individuals, it comes down to moderation. Processed foods are a convenient addition to a diet based on healthy, nutritious foods.
