{"id":16492,"date":"2020-11-24T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16492"},"modified":"2020-11-09T12:22:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T17:22:29","slug":"vegan-processed-foods-embrace-them-shun-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/24\/vegan-processed-foods-embrace-them-shun-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan Processed Foods: Embrace Them? Shun Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From non-dairy milks and cheese to unchicken to burgers that taste like\nmeat, the food industry is capitalizing on the public\u2019s interest in vegan and\nplant-based foods. There\u2019s a huge market for processed vegan foods. In July\n2019, the U.S. total plant-based market value was estimated to be $4.5 billion.1<\/sup>\nThe same study found that retail sales of plant-based foods grew 11 percent in\nthe past year. 1<\/sup> \u201cPlant-based\u201d is often a vague term. In this study,\nit apparently referred to vegan and vegetarian products although most product\ncategories appear to be vegan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Vegan or plant-based foods\nare often promoted as healthy, as \u201ccleaner\u201d than animal -based foods, and as a\nway of eating a purer diet. Others, however, are calling for avoiding vegan processed\nfoods, saying that they are \u201cFrankenfoods\u201d and that they violate Mother Nature.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Is there a middle ground?\nAre processed foods the miracle foods that some claim or a sure path to\nnutritional ruin? Stay with us as we explore these and other issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For starters, there is the\nquestion of just what is a processed food? The UK\u2019s National Health Service\nprovides this definition2<\/sup>: \u201cA processed food is any food that\nhas been altered in some way during preparation. Food processing can be as\nbasic as freezing, canning, baking, or drying.\u201d The Academy of Nutrition &\nDietetics3 <\/sup>echoes and amplifies this definition saying that processed\nfood \u201cincludes food that has been cooked, canned, frozen, packaged or changed\nin nutritional composition with fortifying, preserving or preparing in\ndifferent ways.\u201d So, anything from cooked dried beans to a veggie burger\ncontaining heme produced with genetic engineering to a vegan dessert with 2 dozen\ningredients (most unpronounceable) is considered a processed food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics\nproposes a classification system ranging from minimally processed foods to\nheavily processed foods.3<\/sup> Minimally processed foods could include a bag\nof chopped vegetables or roasted nuts. It\u2019s clear what the ingredients are in\nthese foods. Heavily processed (also called highly processed or ultra-processed)\nfoods undergo several processing steps, contain multiple ingredients, and may\ncontain artificial colors and flavors and preservatives. Examples of heavily\nprocessed foods include some crackers, some breakfast cereals, frozen dinners,\nand meat analogs. We\u2019ll focus on heavily processed foods in this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns with Heavily Processed\nFoods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you read the nutrition facts label on many vegan heavily processed\nfoods you\u2019ll notice that not uncommonly they contain a lot of fat, sodium, sugar,\ncalories, and sometimes saturated fat. Often, they are as high or higher in\nthese substances than similar non-vegan heavily processed foods. Take frozen\npizza for example. A serving (5-ounces) of a popular vegan \u201cpepperoni\u201d pizza\nhas 410 calories, 17 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, and 830 milligrams\nof sodium. The same serving size of non-vegan frozen pepperoni pizza has 375\ncalories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, and 912 milligrams of\nsodium. Neither of these could be classified as a food to eat every day. Or\nconsider a vegan frozen dessert. A 2\/3-cup serving has 340 calories, 29 grams\nof added sugar, and 13 grams of saturated fat. Surprise \u2013 a similar dairy-based\nproduct has the same amount of calories and saturated fat and slightly less\nadded sugar. Vegan does not necessarily mean healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     One issue to consider is\nthat heavily processed vegan foods used to be occasional treats. They were\nexpensive, harder to find, and, honestly, some just didn\u2019t taste that good.\nThanks to demand, there are so many more vegan processed foods available and\nmany of them skillfully use salt, sugar, and fat to make them highly palatable.\nWalk into almost any supermarket and you\u2019ll find a selection of heavily\nprocessed vegan foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This is not necessarily a\nbad thing. It\u2019s great to have options when you\u2019re looking for a quick meal that\ntastes like a well-remembered non-vegan convenience food. The problem comes\nwhen these foods consistently replace the legumes, whole grains, vegetables,\nand fruits that are the mainstays of a healthy vegan diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     While prices have gone down\nover the past twenty years, heavily processed vegan foods frequently cost more\nthan it would cost to make a similar food at home. Some may feel that the time\nsavings is worth the cost. Others may opt to use less processed foods like\ncanned beans, pre-cut vegetables, and quick-cooking pasta that cost less but\nstill save time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Food manufacturers have\nproducts to sell. They may promote heavily processed foods labeled as\n\u201cplant-based\u201d or vegan as healthy choices. For instance, the ads may say, \u201ceat\nfreely,\u201d implying that you don\u2019t need to consider the sodium, sugar, calories,\nor fat in this vegan product. They may make it seem that these foods are what\nyou need to be a healthy vegan. Watch for label phrases like \u201chigh protein,\u201d\n\u201chearty\u201d or \u201cfor meat lovers.\u201d There are plenty of hearty sources of protein\nand calories for vegans that are minimally processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Some heavily processed vegan\nfoods may use new techniques or ingredients. These processes or modifications don\u2019t\nhave a track record of being consumed by humans. Is this a problem? It\u2019s too\nsoon to know for sure. While many new ingredients enter the food stream without\nincident, others are recognized as being problematic at some point. You may\nremember Olestra which was marketed as a fat substitute in the 1990s. Once side\neffects like diarrhea and malabsorption of some vitamins were reported,\nOlestra\u2019s popularity declined4<\/sup> and today, it is banned by some\ncountries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of Heavily Processed Foods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavily processed vegan foods have some attractive features. If you\ndon\u2019t know how to cook, have a disability, or don\u2019t have a lot of time or\nenergy, these products often require very little effort \u2013 reheat in the\nmicrowave or oven or on the stove top. That\u2019s a big advantage for those who\ndon\u2019t have cooking skills or who have limited mobility. Results are predictable\n\u2013 a frozen pizza will taste like a frozen pizza. It\u2019s not like following a\nrecipe where you don\u2019t have the ingredients the recipe calls for or don\u2019t\nreally understand the directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For those with limited\ncooking facilities, perhaps only having access to a microwave, heavily\nprocessed foods make it possible to eat a meal that could be better\nnutritionally than fast food or snack foods that don\u2019t require any cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     When you\u2019re traveling,\nheavily processed foods can make it easy to have a decent meal, especially if\nyou look for products based on whole grains, vegetables, and legumes. You might\neven find a lower sodium product. Frozen vegan burritos and canned soups have\nbeen comforting foods when I\u2019m in a motel room with no easy access to other\noptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Some of the ingredients on\nthe long ingredient lists that accompany heavily processed foods may be\nvitamins and minerals that are added to the foods. Nutrients like vitamin D,\nvitamin B12, and possibly calcium and iron can be low in vegan diets. Choosing\nfoods fortified with these nutrients is an alternative that some vegans choose\nin place of using a vitamin-mineral supplement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For new vegans, processed\nfoods often replace familiar non-vegan foods. Want something cold and sweet?\nVegan frozen desserts, while not necessarily healthier than their dairy-based\ncounterparts, can help to ease the transition to a vegan diet. And, if you\u2019re\ntrying not to stand out as a vegan, eating a veggie burger or a sandwich of\nvegan deli slices can help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Based on our\nlimited observations, heavily processed vegan foods seem more likely to use\norganic ingredients than similar animal-based products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical Approaches<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several approaches that you might choose when considering\nwhether or not to use heavily processed vegan foods. Each of these has\npositives and negatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n