Reply to Need some fast food advice - is this considered processed foods?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes , highly processed. The fried chicken is processed, the batter is and, the bread is terrible and don’t get me started on the sauce. Even a Big Mac is a better choice [/quote]

God I only read half of your text before answering. I now see your French fries question... you must be joking? Tell me you are joking ??? If fast food French fries is not processed food what is ? Seriously Op, that’s a real question: what is on your processed food list? I am puzzled[/quote]

I would argue it is the degree and kind of processing. Unless you are yanking a potato out of the ground and chomping it down while wringing a chicken's neck and then taking a bite, ALL food is processed.

So, french fries. Mcdonald's fries, to take an example, involve peeling the potato, cutting the potato, hitting a bath containing dextrose (a sugar made from cornstarch through the use of enzymes) and sodium pyrophosphate (an ingredient in baking powder). Then fried in vegetable oil that contains some beef extract. Add salt.

Homemade french fries:

Peel and cut your potato. Fry in vegetable oil. Add salt.

On the one hand, there's not much difference between the two. And that potato has undergone a good bit of breeding from the time its ancestors were tiny little nubs in the Andes. And however you get the oil, it involves processing--even if you're growing olives and extracting your own oil.

Chicken is a hunk of breast muscle but has likely been soaked in brine before freezing. Oops, a lot of people do that when they roast their chicken or turkey. Assuming you're not talking about grilled, you have a fried coating. If you did it at home you'd be using some combo of flours/starches/breading, some egg, maybe some buttermilk, salt, and seasonings. You might use some premixed ingredients which are likely to have some extra salt, sugars, or other substances to make them not clump or go rancid too soon or whatever.

Anyway, you got your fried chicken and fried potatoes. Some people treat "processing" like it is some kind of occult curse. No, it is physical actions on food. IMO it should also include all the breeding and cultivation and animal husbandry practices.

I'd put french fries in the category of minimally processed, frankly. The chicken itself, maybe not the coating. But watch the fat and salt.

[/quote]

OP again.  Thank you for this as well.  Very helpful to see a side by side comparison.[/quote]

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