Processed Foods

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Do you eat processed foods?

  • No processed foods for me!

    Votes: 7 14.0%
  • as many whole foods as possible, but some processed food in moderation is fine.

    Votes: 30 60.0%
  • i love processed foods! gimme that baloney and cool whip!

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • never really thought about it before, i just eat food.

    Votes: 12 24.0%

  • Total voters
    50

HappyAvocado

Senior Cook
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
119
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.:)
 
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..... :mrgreen:
 
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 :ermm:

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? :LOL:)
 
I've gotten away from processed foods the last few years
and I'm a believer in the slow food movement.
 
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!
 
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. =)

:heart:
Z
 
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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. :cool:
 
Mmmmmmmm...food!

I just love to eat so I guess that I have never really thought about it.:)
 
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!:)
 
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'.
 
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.
 
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!!:yuk: 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...
 
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. :chef:

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!
 
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.
 
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..
 
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.
 
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).
 
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).
 
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.
 
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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