The 7 Levels of Processed Food

The 7 Levels of Processed Food Where does food stop being food? From a whole apple to an engineered snack built almost from scratch, this video breaks down the 7 levels of processed food — from whole and minimally processed foods to ultra processed foods, engineered snacks, and full-on food science. You’ll see why “processed food” doesn’t automatically mean unhealthy, why frozen vegetables barely belong near the extreme end of the spectrum, how an ordinary loaf of supermarket bread can be more engineered than it looks, and what happened in the NIH experiment where people eating an ultra-processed diet consumed roughly 500 extra calories per day. We’ll also look at how texture, structure, and oral processing can influence how quickly we eat, why food companies engineer crunch and mouthfeel, and the difference between simply transforming food and designing an industrial formulation. By the end, you’ll have four simple questions you can use to place almost anything in your grocery cart on the spectrum. If you’ve ever wondered what ultra processed food actually is, why processed foods are controversial, or how modern food is engineered, this is processed foods explained from Level 1 to Level 7. CHAPTERS 0:00 Seven levels, one question 1:46 Level 1: Whole 3:35 Level 2: Minimal 5:32 Level 3: Ingredient 7:28 Level 4: Made 9:44 Level 5: Ultra 12:29 Level 6: Engineered Snack 15:05 Level 7: Food Science 17:13 So when does food stop being food? 18:47 The 4 questions 20:07 How much processing is too much? SOURCES Hall KD et al. (2019). Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metabolism. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31105... NOVA food classification, developed by Carlos Monteiro and colleagues at the University of São Paulo. STOCK FOOTAGE Stock video from Pexels (pexels.com). Thanks to the creators: Aamir Somewhere, Aghyad Najjar, Ahmed, Aleks BM, Aleksei Alimenko, Alena Darmel, Alexandr, Amar Preciado, Amer Mansour, Anh Nguyen, Anna Korecká, Anna Shvets, ArtHouse Studio, Ashok kumar Shah, Aurelijus U., Bob Houghton, CESAR CASANOVA, Caleb Minear, Castorly Stock, Charlotte May, CityXcape, EJ Merl, EVENT.MEDIA AHA, Erkan Avanoğlu, Everett Bumstead, FU GUYI, Gustavo Fring, HONG SON, IslandHopper X, Ivan S, Jack Sparrow, Joshua Lim, Joshua Malic, Julia M Cameron, Kampus Production, Ketut Subiyanto, Kindel Media, Kiwi and Camera, Kmeel.com Videos, LayG Traveller, Los Muertos Crew, Magda Ehlers, Maksim Goncharenok, Media Dung, Mikhail Nilov, Monserrat Soldú, Monstera Production, Mytho Digital, Nataliya Vaitkevich, Natasha Filippovskaya, Nature Feels, Norma Mortenson, Nothing Ahead, PNW Production, Pavel Danilyuk, Pixabay, Prakash Chavda, Prerna Singh, RDNE Stock project, Rain Photography, Rathaphon Nanthapreecha, Ricky Esquivel, SHVETS production, Sini Ko, Stephen Martin, Suika Chan, Sururi Ballıdağ Director, T Leish, Taryn Elliott, Thirdman, Thor Disdanine, Tima Miroshnichenko, Tomas Gutierrez Duport, Towfiqu barbhuiya, Ucundinamarca Virtual, Vanessa Loring, WeStarMoney Rec, Wolfgang Weiser, Yan Krukau, abdo alshreef, alleksana, khanhhoangminh, utopia 36, İsmail Ünlü #ProcessedFood #UltraProcessedFoods #FoodScience #FoodExplained #FoodDocumentary