Processed vs. Ultra-Processed Foods: Why the Difference Matters More Than You Think

Walk through any grocery store and it’s tough to know what’s truly healthy. Labels are confusing, and even doctors admit they struggle with them. Yet the foods you put in your cart directly shape your energy, your weight, and your long-term health. Knowing how to tell the difference between unprocessed, processed, and ultra-processed foods matters more than most people realize.

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The NOVA Scale

There isn’t one clear definition of what counts as “processed” or “ultra-processed,” so nutrition researchers and experts use the NOVA Scale¹ to group foods by how much they’ve been changed from their natural form:

• 1 – Unprocessed or minimally processed: fresh or frozen plain fruits or vegetables, raw nuts, plain meats, plain yogurt, eggs. Processes allowed are basic preservation, like freezing or pasteurization, but no additives.
• 2 – Processed ingredients: items commonly used for cooking or food prep, never eaten by themselves in large amounts, such as olive oil, salt, sugar, butter, and honey.
• 3 – Processed foods: foods with a few added ingredients, like certain breads, cheese, canned beans, plain tortilla chips, canned vegetables, fish with salt, fruit in syrup, or salted nuts.
•  4 – Ultra-processed foods: made with multiple factory steps and five or more added ingredients you would not usually cook with at home. Examples: soda, packaged snacks, flavored yogurt, sugary cereal, mass-produced breads and cakes, frozen dinners, hot dogs, and frozen fruit or vegetables with sauces, sugar, salt, or flavorings.

Key takeaway: Not all processed foods are off-limits. Foods in category 3, like whole-grain bread or canned beans, can be part of a healthy diet. The bigger concern is with category 4, the ultra-processed foods, especially when they make up most of your diet. It’s not about never eating them; it’s about making sure they don’t replace the nourishing foods your body needs every day.

What Experts Want You to Know

1. Plant-Based vs. Animal-Based Processed Foods (Neal Barnard, MD | PCRM)

• Plant-based processed foods (like whole-grain bread, canned beans, or unsweetened plant milk) are usually a safer choice. Animal-based processed foods (like bacon, sausage, or deli meat) are more strongly tied to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer.

2. Not All Plant-Based Foods Are Automatically Healthy (Dalia Perelman| Stanford)

• Some plant-based snacks and cereals are loaded with sugar, salt, or additives.

3. Doctors Get Little Nutrition Training (Stephen Devries, MD | Gaples Institute)

• Medical school rarely includes in-depth nutrition education. This is one reason why even health professionals can give broad or outdated advice about nutrition and processed foods.

4. Medication Is Not a Magic Shield

• Prescriptions like GLP-1s, blood pressure, or diabetes drugs help, but they cannot cancel the effects of a diet high in ultra-processed meats, sugary drinks, and refined snacks. Combining medicine with balanced eating and other lifestyle changes is much more effective.

5. Food Policy Takes Time (Christopher Gardner, PhD | Stanford)

• Big changes, such as removing harmful trans fats or reducing added sugars across the food supply, happen slowly. Even as companies improve recipes, those products might cost more or be harder to find.

How to Think About Ultra-Processed Foods

A few things to keep in mind when you shop.

Ingredient list length: A long ingredient list isn’t automatically a problem; context matters.

• Some foods need a few “support” ingredients (stabilizers, emulsifiers, fortification) to stay safe, consistent, and shelf-stable.
• “Unpronounceable” doesn’t automatically mean harmful. A lot of ingredients sound unfamiliar because they’re listed by their technical names.
• The real issue is the job those ingredients are doing.

Better question: Are the added ingredients there to keep the food stable and safe (so it holds up, stays fresh, and stays consistent), or are they there because the food has been stripped down and needs help mimicking what real food normally provides (like fiber, protein, or satisfying texture)?

Added flavors, colors, and preservatives: Not all additives are the same, and not all are harmful; specifics matter.

• Some colors and preservatives are well-studied and used to keep foods safe or visually stable.
• Others tend to show up more often in highly processed snack foods that are designed to be very appealing.
• Problems usually come from how often and how much these foods are eaten, not just because an additive is included in the food or snack.

Better question: Are these additives mainly helping the food function and stay safe, or are they being used to make the food more tempting and easier to overeat?

Shelf life alone is not a red flag: A long shelf life doesn’t automatically mean a food lacks nutrition.

• Many nutritious staples last a long time, like canned beans, frozen vegetables, shelf-stable rice, quinoa, oats, and lentils.
• These foods keep well because of how they’re stored (dried, frozen, or sealed), not because they’ve been stripped of nutrients.
• Shelf life becomes more relevant when a food is heavily refined and doesn’t leave you feeling satisfied.

Better question: Does this food still look like the food it started as, and does it add protein, fiber, or nutrients to a meal?

Practical Reminder: This doesn’t mean you can never have these foods. Limiting and eliminating are two totally different things, and the goal isn’t removal; it’s balance. Ultra-processed foods become a problem when they make up most of your diet, not when you enjoy them once in a while.

When Shopping, Use The 20% And 5% Guide

The Nutrition Facts label can look overwhelming, but one simple rule helps: check the percent daily value (%DV).

• 5% DV or less is low. This is a good target for things you generally want to limit, like added sugar, sodium, or saturated fat.
• 20% DV or more is high. This is what you want to see for nutrients that support your health, like protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Just keep in mind that the %DV is based on a 2,000-calorie day. Since most of us eat more or less than that, the numbers will shift, but it still works well for comparing foods side by side.

For example:

• If you eat less than 2,000 calories, a food showing a certain percentage will take up more of your daily needs.
• If you eat more than 2,000 calories, that same percentage will take up less.

This rule helps you make quick comparisons without overthinking. You’re not aiming for perfection with every item, but choosing more foods with higher nutrients and fewer with high added sugar, sodium, or saturated fat adds up over time.

Smarter Swaps That Make a Difference

You do not have to give up all convenience foods. Instead, focus on upgrading key choices or limiting how many times you eat ultra-processed foods each week.

• Breakfast: swap sugary cereal for plain Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts.
• Lunch: trade deli meats for leftover chicken or tuna mixed with olive oil and herbs.
• Snacks: choose nuts, fruit, veggies, tortilla chips with fresh salsa, or popcorn without added flavors.
• Drinks: switch soda for sparkling water with a squeeze of citrus, tea, or black coffee.

If mornings are super hectic and you can only change one meal right now, that is enough. For example, keep your usual breakfast or lunch and upgrade dinner instead. One swap at a time builds steady habits and lowers risk without feeling restrictive.

Final Thoughts

Learning the truth about ultra-processed foods gives you control. You do not have to eat perfectly or cook every meal from scratch. Start with one or two swaps this week.

Give those changes time to work. More energy or a sharper sense of taste won’t show up overnight. Both your palate and your mindset need time to adjust. If fruit doesn’t taste sweet enough right away, or you feel no different after a few days, that’s normal. Keep going.

Ultra-processed foods are designed for intense, instant flavor, which can make the natural sweetness of fruit or the mild flavor of vegetables seem bland at first. As you choose more whole foods and fewer engineered ones, your taste buds reset. Within weeks, you may notice those natural flavors more and feel satisfied with less added sugar or salt.

This gradual reset helps cravings fade and makes balanced eating feel normal. Over time, your body rewards you with more energy, better overall health, and less confusion every time you open the fridge or walk down a grocery aisle.

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Resource

Much of the research and data for this post came from Your Patients May Not Know Which Foods Are Ultra-processed published on Medscape, September 16, 2025.

1. Adams J. The NOVA system can be used to address harmful foods and harmful food systems. PLoS Med. 2024 Nov 19;21(11):e1004492. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004492. PMID: 39561114; PMCID: PMC11575809. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11575809/ ↩︎

Photo Credits

Supermarket convenience store shelves with Potato chips by Kwangmoozaa from Getty Images Pro

Salad Nutrition Labelby Hailshadow from Getty Images Signature