It helps to define what processed food is, specifically what constitutes “processed”
From Wikipedia:
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms.
Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the making of convenience foods.
Tertiary food processing is the commercial production of what is commonly called processed food.[2] These are ready-to-eat or heat-and-serve foods, such as frozen meals and re-heated airline meals.
TLDR; anything you do to a food item besides picking it up and eating it raw is considered “processing” if you want to be pedantic.
Colloquially, “processed foods” as a marketting and culinary phrase typically means “Tertiary Food Processing” but thats too many words to say every time you want to discuss potato chips
It helps to define what processed food is, specifically what constitutes “processed”
From Wikipedia:
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms.
Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the making of convenience foods.
Tertiary food processing is the commercial production of what is commonly called processed food.[2] These are ready-to-eat or heat-and-serve foods, such as frozen meals and re-heated airline meals.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_processing
TLDR; anything you do to a food item besides picking it up and eating it raw is considered “processing” if you want to be pedantic.
Colloquially, “processed foods” as a marketting and culinary phrase typically means “Tertiary Food Processing” but thats too many words to say every time you want to discuss potato chips