The Most and Least Processed Foods at Your Grocery Store

Ultra-processed foods are linked to a host of serious health conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, making them products most people want to avoid. However, because these foods are found in so many products at the grocery store, it can be tough — and incredibly confusing — to determine which items fall into this category.

To help consumers make informed decisions when food shopping, a research team at Mass General Brigham in Boston created a website called TrueFood. The site breaks down the most and least processed grocery foods commonly found at Whole Foods, Target, and Walmart — three of the top supermarket chains in the United States.

The foods are divided into one of four different categories (unprocessed, processed culinary ingredient, processed, and ultra-processed) to help users find, say, the least processed type of popcorn or yogurt, says Giulia Menichetti, PhD, an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and investigator in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Instead of labeling foods as “ultra-processed” or not, the website gives products a score, with numbers closest to zero having the least amount of processing.

The aim is to lessen the consumption of ultra-processed foods—those altered from their natural state by adding sugar, oil, salt, or other ingredients. These foods often include artificial colors, flavors, additives, and preservatives designed to preserve texture and prolong shelf life. Think: flavored potato chips, sodas, and sugar-sweetened cereals.

Up to 70% of the country’s food supply is ultra-processed, making it incredibly difficult to completely cut these foods out from our diets. The products are also cleverly designed to draw you in, says Lu Wang, PhD, an epidemiologist and research assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “These foods are often sophisticatedly packaged, intensely marketed, and are engineered to be more palatable by using combinations of different ingredients,” she points out. 

But there is a range of ultra-processed foods. “Some ultra-processed foods, like protein powders or cereal, could be part of a healthy diet,” says Dena Champion, RDN, a dietitian at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Not all ultra-processed foods are created equally, so it’s important to keep that in mind.”

The TrueFood website also includes information like an ingredient “tree” that breaks down exactly what goes into the food to help you determine whether it’s an ultra-processed product that could fit well into your dietary goals.