Processed Produce: The Health Concerns of Unhealthy Eating Mmm, the infamous McDonald’s Big Mac. Sure, you can’t pronounce half the additives in it, but who cares? That artery-clogging, greasy mountain of beef tastes so good, all health conscientiousness is dissipated in one chew. Does this guilty food scenario ring a bell? If you’re living in America, it very well should; in the USA, nearly 90% of money spent on food is used to buy processed items. So what exactly constitutes the term, “processed?” Any food item that has been put through devitalizing chemical processes to sustain a longer shelf-life. Processed foods are infused with any of the following treatments: canning, freezing, preservation, coloring, sweetening, dehydration, flavoring, refining, bleaching and emulsifier/stabilizer additives. Processed foods are normal items have been altered from their natural state for safety and storage conveniences. This “respect” to health is mind-boggling when considering the slew of ailments, elicited by the preservation processes. Let’s take a look at just three of the countless hazards posed by processed food item intake.