What Processed Foods Do You Avoid and Why?

I won't eat:

- velveeta
- canned vegetables or soup (ill eat out of a jar, though....but prefer not to). The exception: anything tomato. The canning process keep the tomato flavor quite well....meaning canned tomato sauce is better than jar (same with ketchup)
- canned drinks....canning makes it taste bad
- premade pie filling. Jesus, how much sugar do they put in that stuff? Yuck.
- canned meats (exception: anchovies)
- box meals of any kind (anything with the word "helper" in it, mac n cheese, etc)
- any oil other than corn or olive, excepting butter of course
- any kind of bean from a can
- any cooked and frozen or canned meats, other than frozen pepperoni

I had a doctor once that said you should only shop from the outside of the store, staying off the aisles. That is a pretty solid analysis. He'd also say to eat nothing white that isn't also green.

I don't do the above type stuff for health, though...its all about flavor and taste. The overwhelming majority of processed food tastes like the underside of a hippos tail. Or, so im told.

Processed meats contain nitrates. Nitrates are oxidants which is why they are effective at reducing bacterial growth on meat to be stored..

a reply to: Atsbhct

I stay away from anything with HFCS first off. That stuff is just nasty! Why does it need to be in bread?!!

I love my cheese. I buy artisan cheese and the dreaded shredded as well. I'm a cheese finatic so I mix it up.

I don't buy boxed foods and I try and buy organic if available. As for OJ I live in Florida so OJ options are great! Nothing from concentrate just fresh oj!

You say cream of mushroom soup is your weakness? Can you cook? I have an amazing recipe for cream of soups and you can freeze it! I haven't bought canned cream soup in years. I will make a big vat of soup and put it into serving size containers for later. All I have to do is take it out and drop it in a sauce pan and let it heat up. I can make any cream of soup with the base recipe. If you want it let me know. Heck I may have posted it on here lol

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan


I had a doctor once that said you should only shop from the outside of the store, staying off the aisles. That is a pretty solid analysis. .

That is exactly how I shop! I call the inner aisles filler aisles lol. I venture in them for coffee and spices or flour but I don't buy boxed foods. I do buy organic canned veggies but I also buy fresh. The canned ones are easy when I work and my son loves his green beans!

a reply to: mblahnikluver

Thanks! I definitely love to cook, and if I get enough good fresh mushrooms I'll whip up some "real" cream of mushroom, but there is just something so comforting about the Campbells brand! I'd like your recipe just the same.

As for high fructose corn syrup...why!? Why in bread, why in anything! I typically make my own bread, but we don't eat a lot of it except in tomato season. Toasted sandwiches are a weakness.

Related but not, I recently had to take a glucose tolerance test during my pregnancy. What do they give you (you probably know)? A disgusting drink made with 50-75-100mg of high fructose corn syrup. How is this natural in any way, or something that reasonable people would invest for breakfast?!

On canned vegetables: (Not organic though, likely.) Here in Canada we have two major canning plants. One is a short drive away from my location and we went there on a field trip in school. I was pretty surprised to find out that every product they can there, regardless of brand, is the same. If they're canning green beans, the line is loaded with can, the labeller is loaded with the brand labels. The cans are filled until that brands order is done. Then the linesman just changes the branding labels, and the product resumes, cans are filled with green until that brands order is done.

So a tip to anyone in Canada buying canned vegetables or pretty much any canned goods that are packaged in the two major facilities...just buy the cheapest.