Nutrition Diet: What are 5 examples of highly processed foods?

October 13, 2025 •

4 min read

According to studies, nearly 60% of calories in the American diet come from highly processed foods, also known as ultra-processed foods. Understanding what are 5 examples of highly processed foods? and their impact is a critical step toward a more nutritious diet and overall better health.

Quick Summary

This article defines and identifies highly processed foods, explores their health risks, and provides 5 clear examples to help improve dietary choices. It also offers practical tips for swapping out these items for healthier, less processed alternatives, and explains how to read food labels.

Key Points

Identification: Highly processed foods (ultra-processed foods) are complex industrial formulations made from refined ingredients and additives, not simple household preparations.
Examples: Common highly processed foods include sugary drinks, processed meats, packaged snacks, frozen ready meals, and sweetened breakfast cereals.
Health Risks: Diets high in these foods are linked to chronic health problems such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
Nutrient Poor: These products are typically high in added sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, while being low in essential nutrients and fiber.
Practical Swaps: Replace highly processed items with whole or minimally processed foods like fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins to improve your diet.
Label Literacy: Learning to read and scrutinize ingredient lists is essential for spotting and avoiding ultra-processed foods.

Understanding Highly Processed Foods

Highly processed foods, often referred to as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), represent the most extensive level of food processing. These are not simple preparations like freezing vegetables or canning beans, but complex industrial formulations created from extracted food substances (e.g., sugars, fats, starches) and a long list of additives. The primary goal of this intensive processing is to create products that are highly palatable, convenient, and have an extended shelf life.

Common additions include artificial colors, flavorings, emulsifiers, preservatives, and non-sugar sweeteners, many of which are not used in home cooking. Unfortunately, this process often strips foods of their natural nutrients like fiber and essential vitamins, while increasing calorie density and addictive qualities. Extensive research links diets high in UPFs to various chronic health issues, including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.

What are 5 examples of highly processed foods?

Here are five common examples of highly processed foods that are often found in grocery stores and fast-food restaurants:

Sugary Drinks: This includes sodas, energy drinks, and many fruit-flavored beverages. These products contain high amounts of added sugars, artificial flavors, and colors. They offer little to no nutritional value and are a major contributor to excessive calorie intake and weight gain.
Processed Meats: Items like hot dogs, sausages, bacon, and deli meats are heavily processed using curing, salting, or smoking methods. These products contain high levels of sodium, saturated fat, and preservatives like nitrates and nitrites, which are associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, particularly colorectal cancer.
Packaged Snacks: This category includes a wide range of products such as potato chips, savory crackers, and many cookies and pastries. They are typically high in unhealthy fats, refined carbohydrates, salt, and sugar, and contain little to no fiber or other nutrients. These snacks are often designed to be hyper-palatable, encouraging overconsumption.
Frozen and Ready-to-Eat Meals: Many microwavable dinners, packaged pizzas, and instant noodles fall into this category. While convenient, these meals are often formulated with refined ingredients and multiple additives to achieve a specific taste and texture after reheating. They tend to be very high in sodium and unhealthy fats while lacking in fresh vegetables, fiber, and micronutrients.
Sweetened Breakfast Cereals: Most cereals marketed for children, and even many that appear 'healthy', are ultra-processed. They are primarily made from refined flours and contain high levels of added sugars, flavors, and colors. These products can cause rapid blood sugar spikes and offer minimal fiber, making them a poor start to the day.

Identifying and Avoiding Highly Processed Foods

The key to reducing your intake of highly processed foods is to become a discerning consumer. Focus on the ingredient list rather than the marketing claims on the front of the package. Look for these red flags:

Long Ingredient Lists: Generally, the more ingredients a product has, the more processed it is.
Unfamiliar Ingredients: If you see ingredients that are difficult to pronounce or aren't something you would use in a home kitchen (e.g., emulsifiers, stabilizers, flavor enhancers), the food is likely ultra-processed.
"Low-fat" or "Sugar-free" Claims: Manufacturers often replace one unhealthy component with another, such as replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners or fat with flavorings.
Deceptive Appearance: A snack that claims to be made from vegetables but looks nothing like them is a clear sign of heavy processing.

Healthier Alternatives to Highly Processed Foods

Making simple swaps can significantly improve your diet. By choosing less processed options, you increase your intake of vital nutrients, fiber, and whole foods.

Comparison of Highly Processed vs. Minimally Processed Options


Highly Processed Food	Minimally Processed Alternative	Nutritional Benefits of Alternative
Sweetened Breakfast Cereal	Plain Oatmeal with Fresh Fruit	Higher fiber content, no added sugar, better blood sugar regulation.
Packaged Potato Chips	Handful of Raw Nuts or Seeds	Rich in healthy fats and protein, high in fiber, provides sustained energy.
Processed Deli Meats	Freshly Roasted Chicken Breast or Fish	Lower sodium and saturated fat content, free of preservatives like nitrates.
Microwavable Frozen Meal	Homemade Meal Prep (e.g., Chicken & Veggies)	Full control over ingredients, lower sodium, no artificial additives.
Sugary Soda	Water with a Slice of Lemon or Infused with Cucumber	No added sugar, prevents blood sugar spikes, promotes hydration.

Practical Tips for Your Nutrition Diet

Shop the Perimeter: Grocery stores are often laid out with fresh, whole foods like produce, lean meats, and dairy on the outer ring, while the center aisles contain more packaged and processed goods.
Batch Cook: Prepare larger quantities of healthy meals and freeze them in portions. This provides a convenient, healthy alternative to store-bought ready meals.
Plan Ahead: Have healthy snacks like nuts, seeds, and fresh fruit ready to avoid reaching for a highly processed option when hunger strikes.

Conclusion

Recognizing what are 5 examples of highly processed foods? and understanding their negative health implications is crucial for adopting a more nutritious diet. While they offer convenience, their low nutritional value, high caloric density, and numerous additives pose significant health risks, including obesity and chronic diseases. By prioritizing whole and minimally processed foods, reading labels carefully, and making smart substitutions, you can dramatically improve your eating habits. Making small, consistent changes can lead to a more balanced and healthier lifestyle.

For more information on nutrition and diet, visit the official website of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at www.nih.gov.

Frequently Asked Questions

Processed foods involve simple alterations like canning or freezing and often use a few ingredients like salt or sugar. Ultra-processed foods, on the other hand, are complex industrial formulations made from extracted substances with numerous additives not typically used in home cooking.

Look for a long ingredient list containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, difficult to pronounce, or are chemical additives like emulsifiers and artificial flavors. If a product looks significantly different from its whole food source, it's likely ultra-processed.

No. Many minimally processed foods like frozen vegetables, canned fish, and pasteurized milk retain their nutritional value and are healthy additions to a diet. The health risks primarily come from ultra-processed foods, which are low in nutrients and high in additives.

Food manufacturers formulate ultra-processed foods with precise combinations of sugar, salt, and fat, known as the 'bliss point', to maximize palatability and encourage overconsumption. This makes them highly tasty and potentially addictive.

Instead of packaged snacks, opt for whole foods like fresh fruit, a handful of nuts or seeds, plain yogurt with berries, or roasted chickpeas. These options are richer in fiber and nutrients and provide more sustained energy.

Cooking at home gives you complete control over the ingredients, allowing you to avoid unnecessary additives, excess salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats. You can use whole, fresh ingredients to create healthier, more nutritious meals.

'Diet' or 'low-fat' versions of products are often highly processed. Manufacturers remove fat or sugar and replace it with artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, and other additives to maintain flavor and texture. This can sometimes make them even more ultra-processed.