>The concept of processed foods seems so vague that it’s hard to study or reason about. Is it? Or is that what the food companies want you to believe. They hav

>The concept of processed foods seems so vague that it’s hard to study or reason about. Is it? Or is that what the food companies want you to believe. They have a history of obfuscating the facts to make processed food sound like its good for you - e.g. yoghurt with sweetened fruit added. My rule of thumb - did it exist 100 years ago? Then it's fine. There are a few corner cases - hummus comes to mind, its processed but by hand (traditionally), and is high in fat so don't eat too much of that, and it is hard to eat a lot of hummus imho. Packet Potato chips are high in fat and didn't exist a hundred years ago so ultra processed.