Close your eyes and picture the healthiest grocery cart you can. Is it filled with foods like whole wheat bread, quinoa, skinless chicken breasts, yogurt, and fresh fruits and veggies? If so, then it’s filled with processed foods.
Technically speaking, any food that’s been altered from its natural form in any way is processed. So if it’s been chopped, blanched, pasteurized, milled, packaged, or even washed, then it’s processed. “Lots of people will say they try to avoid processed foods as if they’re some kind of poison,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, a registered dietitian based in New York. “It’s a well-intentioned goal, but certain processed foods make our lives more convenient, safe, and healthful.” A better approach: Think about how much processing went into a food and use that to determine how often you should eat it. Here are the main categories and their differences:
Minimally processed foods
This category contains foods that are very close to their natural state, with no added salt, sugar, or fat. And as you’d guess, these foods are a good foundation of a healthy diet. Think: fresh fruits and vegetables, quinoa, brown rice, pasta, meat, plain unsweetened yogurt, eggs, and raw nuts. These foods may not always seem processed, but they still underwent washing, trimming, and packaging on their way from the farm to the table.
Even frozen fruits and vegetables fall into this category, and show how a little bit of processing can make it easier to eat healthy. “Fresh, local produce can be great, but in the middle of winter your options are limited,” says Atlanta-based nutritionist Marisa Moore, RDN. “That’s when it makes sense to keep frozen fruits and vegetables on hand, especially since they’re picked at the peak of ripeness and quickly frozen for optimal nutrition.”
Processed culinary ingredients
These food products have gone through some changes from their original form, like by being pressed, ground, or milled. This includes vegetable oil, butter, vinegar, honey, and maple syrup. They tend to be used when cooking and are a way to make your meals taste better.
Processed foods
Foods like canned fish, vegetables, fruits, and beans as well as cured meat, cheese, and freshly made bread have all been processed. This means they tend to have sugar, oil, and/or salt added to help them stay fresh or improve their flavor. That can result in somewhat of a mixed bag nutrition-wise and hammers home the importance of looking at labels.
Take canned foods like tuna and beans. A 2015 study found that people who frequently ate canned foods got more nutrients in their diets than those who rarely ate them. But you need to keep an eye out for sodium. Some canned foods can be high in sodium, so look at the label and choose foods with 140 milligrams or less per serving.
Ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are what most people think of when they say “processed foods,” and, since they make up about 70% of our food supply, chances are you eat a lot of them. These foods are made in industrial factories and typically contain processed culinary ingredients as well as one or more not-found-in-your-pantry food additives to make them tastier and more convenient to eat. This includes stabilizers, anti-bulking agents, soy protein isolate, high fructose corn syrup, and non-sugar sweeteners — all ingredients that are very far removed from their natural state.
While at first glance you’d think you should avoid UPFs, there are some foods that fall into this category that may be beneficial to your health by providing important nutrients such as fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc, and calcium. These include some packaged whole wheat bread, some breakfast cereals, most hummus, and some flavored yogurts (just keep an eye on how much added sugar they contain!). But most items classified as UPFs have been linked to poor health, including packaged cakes, cookies, chicken nuggets, frozen dinners, ice cream, and soft drinks. These foods tend to be high in fat, sodium, and sugar and low in nutrients, so they are best eaten sparingly.
Research even shows that people following a diet consisting of minimally processed foods may lose more weight, up to almost twice as much as those following one full of UPFs — even when the UPF diet met all the nutrition guidelines. This is where the WeightWatchers Points® Program can help. A study found that WeightWatchers members reduced their calories from ultra-processed foods by 29%*.
The bottom line
Unless you’ve grown something in your garden and eaten it right after picking, all foods have gone through some sort of processing. They may be minimally processed, like frozen corn, processed culinary ingredients, like maple syrup, processed foods like canned tuna, or ultra-processed foods, like soda. In most cases, the less processing something has gone through and the closer it is to its natural state, the less harmful it may be to your health. That said, there are some highly processed foods that are convenient and provide important nutrition and have not been shown to increase harm to your health — 100% whole wheat bread is a prime example of this. The key is looking at ingredient lists and nutrition labels and selecting foods which have the most recognizable ingredients (usually these are also the foods with shorter ingredient lists) and the least amount of sodium, added sugar, and saturated fat.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be regarded as a substitute for guidance from your healthcare provider.
*Disclosure: Based on a secondary analysis of Palacios et al. 2025, a 6-month randomized controlled trial (n=376 adults) that compared participants following WW to those given standard nutritional guidelines alone. Manuscript in draft. Funded by WW International, Inc.