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NOVA Group 3: Processed Foods
26 Nov 2020
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Group 3 in the NOVA Food Classification System has Minimally Processed Foods. Such processing may involve usage of Group 2 substances like sugar, oil and salt.

Group 3 is confusing. Many foods listed in NOVA Group 3 are considered healthy or acceptable by Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) advocates; many are discouraged. Below is a list of foods that come to my mind which are generally allowed by WFPB practitioners.

Canned Foods

Canned beans: WFPB doctors are okay with canned beans. See Canned Beans or Cooked Beans? (3 mins, 2013) by Dr Greger. Some canned beans are salt-free! Eden Organic Canned Beans use a mixture of water and kombu (kelp, a seaweed) instead of brine (water and salt).

Canned vegetables: Bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, for example.

Fermented Foods

Fermented veggies & pickles: Sauerkraut.

Fermented drinks: Kombucha.

Cooked Foods

Baking: Sprouted grain breads and European-style 'hard' breads are considered okay in WFPB circles. Some practitioners are okay with regular breads too as long as they use whole grains. Should we consume non-hard, "fluffy bread" at all? Well, such breads are in the yellow column at ForksOverKnives food guidelines — they should be consumed in moderation. Bread sold in the supermarket often has high sodium; see Sodium In Food Labels. I prefer Ezekiel 4:9 Low Sodium bread with no added salt.

Pre-cooked grains: For example, quick-cook oats, parboiled brown rice.

Steamed & Blanched Foods

Steamed nuts: Sometimes, processing is necessary to make a product safe! When buying 'raw cashews' in the store, take note that these nuts have actually been steamed and are not entirely raw. This is because raw cashews contain urushiol, which is the same chemical that you'd find in poison ivy. It can cause the body to have a very similar reaction to one experienced from poison oak or ivy. See Making Raw Cashews Safe to Eat with Steam! (3 mins, YouTube).

Blanched legumes: Edamame beans are blanched before freezing.

Processed Foods

Soy products: Tofu, tempeh and miso are produced from soy beans and involve a fair amount of processing.

Misc: Nutritional yeast: how is it produced?

Cacao bean powder As explained by Dr Greger in this video, Cacao bean powder is healthier because fats were removed from cacao beans (cacao butter is one of the few plant foods with saturated fats).

Live Foods

Live foods: For example, live foods ketchup.

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