by Felix Amiri

Created on: March 02, 2009

Since health must be viewed holistically, the health basis for stating that "processed food is dangerous" must be fairly assessed. The stress of a daily undertaking in laborious food preparation tasks after long working days cannot be healthy for anyone. There are undeniable benefits, even health benefits, of processed foods.

Some processed ("junk") foods may not be healthy for us. This does not mean that we should throw out all processed foods. What about pasteurized milk, or enriched flour, or vitamin-fortified juices? Freshly grown food from the backyard garden notwithstanding, we need good processed foods.

It has become increasingly difficult to maintain our native ability to eat food fresh from where it is grown. We would of course clean it first. At least I hope we would. Even this rudimentary task has now been helpfully taken over by good food processing techniques. There are some partially processed foods (ingredients) that require work in their final preparation for consumption. However, even the partial processing alleviates much of the laborious work of preparing food right from the farm. In the busy and highly mobile societies that we now find ourselves, food that is partially or fully processed is not only good, it is life-saving. It is sanity-saving, someone might add. Meal preparation time needs to be greatly reduced for many people who spend long days at their vocational employment. This is good for their health.

The food industry now produces a variety of products with value-added advantages. For example, processing enables the removal of some naturally occurring toxins. Refer to footnote #1 for the report by Dr. Anna S.P. Tang on the presence of natural toxins in food and the recommended risk reduction measures.
More health benefits are derived from processed foods. The destruction of spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms enhances the safety of processed foods as exemplified in pasteurized milk. Some naturally occurring components of foods are known to cause health issues for certain individuals such as people who suffer from food allergies, obesity or diabetes. The quality of life is greatly improved for these individuals through food processing techniques and labeling protocols that are aimed at reducing or managing these risks. With respect to certain types of processed foods or ingredients, the nutritional enrichment processes add value for the consumers. For example, the enriched white flour is the only kind of white flour that is permitted

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