Label check
Unprocessed Foods List: Every Whole Food from A to Z
A complete alphabetical reference of truly unprocessed foods, plus the supermarket traps that turn whole foods into processed ones.
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The A to Z List of Unprocessed Foods
Unprocessed foods are foods eaten in or near their natural state: fresh produce, whole grains, plain meat and fish, eggs, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Nutrition researchers group these as NOVA Group 1, the base category of the classification system developed at the University of Sao Paulo, which also includes minimally processed versions where the only changes are things like washing, freezing, drying, or grinding, with nothing added. If you want the full definition first, see our guide to what are unprocessed foods, and for how the four processing groups fit together, see the NOVA food classification explainer.
One gotcha before the list: many whole foods have processed supermarket doubles. Raw almonds are Group 1, but honey-roasted almonds are not. Plain oats qualify, flavored instant oatmeal packets do not. Frozen berries count, and frozen produce holds its vitamins as well as or better than fresh, but berries canned in syrup do not. When a food below comes in a package, check the label and make sure the ingredient list is just the food itself.
A to C: Apples, apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, bananas, barley, beets, black beans (dried), blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, brown rice, Brussels sprouts, buckwheat, butternut squash, cabbage, carrots, cashews (raw), cauliflower, celery, cherries, chicken (fresh, unseasoned), chickpeas (dried), collard greens, corn on the cob, and cucumbers.
D to F: Dates, duck, edamame, eggplant, eggs, farro, fennel, figs, fish (fresh cod, halibut, salmon, sardines, trout), and flaxseeds. Dried fruit like dates and figs counts when the only ingredient is the fruit, so skip versions with added sugar or vegetable oil.
G to I: Garlic, ginger, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, guavas, hazelnuts (raw), fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, mint, parsley, rosemary, thyme), honeydew melon, and iceberg and other whole lettuces.
J to M: Jackfruit, jicama, kale, kidney beans (dried), kiwis, lamb, leeks, lemons, lentils, limes, mackerel, mangoes, millet, mushrooms, and mussels.
N to P: Nectarines, oats (plain rolled or steel-cut), okra, onions, oranges, papayas, parsnips, peaches, pears, peas, pecans (raw), peppers, pineapples, pistachios (raw, unsalted), plums, pork (fresh cuts, not cured), potatoes, and pumpkin.
Q to S: Quinoa, radishes, raspberries, rhubarb, scallops, shrimp (plain, not breaded), spinach, squash, strawberries, sunflower seeds (raw), and sweet potatoes.
T to Z: Tomatoes, turkey (fresh, not deli-sliced), turnips, walnuts (raw), watercress, watermelon, wild rice, yams, plain yogurt (minimally processed, milk and live cultures only), and zucchini. Build most of your cart from this list and the ingredient labels take care of themselves.
How it works
How to Shop the A to Z List in a Real Grocery Store
1Start with the Perimeter of the Store
Fresh produce, meat, fish, eggs, and dairy live along the outer walls of most grocery stores. Nearly everything on the A to Z list above comes from these sections, so fill your cart here first.
2Scan Anything in a Package
Frozen vegetables, canned beans, oats, and nuts are all on the list, but only in their plain form. Open BerryPure and scan the label to catch the versions with added sauces, sugar, oils, or preservatives.
3Apply the One-Ingredient Test
For any packaged item, the cleanest signal is an ingredient list that reads like the name on the front: oats, almonds, black beans. BerryPure's purity score confirms it in a second.
- 4
Save Your Staples
Once you know which A to Z items your household actually eats, turn them into a recurring shopping list. Deciding once beats deciding every week in the snack aisle.
Cleaner swaps
Processed Version to A to Z Original
Flavored instant oatmeal packets
Plain rolled oats (letter O on the list)
Flavored packets add sugar, artificial flavors, and often caramel color. Plain rolled oats are a single ingredient, and you can sweeten them yourself with banana or berries from the same list.
Honey-roasted or flavored nuts
Raw almonds, cashews, or walnuts
Coated nuts pick up added sugar, seed oils, and sometimes maltodextrin. Raw or plain dry-roasted nuts keep the ingredient list to one word.
Fruit cups in syrup
Fresh peaches, pears, or pineapple
Syrup-packed fruit adds corn syrup and preservatives like potassium sorbate. The whole fruit gives you the same sweetness plus intact fiber.
Breaded frozen fish sticks
Fresh or plain frozen salmon, cod, or trout
Fish sticks wrap a small amount of fish in refined flour, vegetable oil, and dextrose. Plain fillets are one ingredient and cook in about the same time.
Instant mashed potato flakes
Whole potatoes
Instant flakes often contain mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor, and sodium acid pyrophosphate. Real potatoes mash in 20 minutes with just milk, butter, and salt.
Frequently askedquestions
Everything you need to know about scanning your food with Berry Pure.
What is an A to Z list of non processed foods?
It is an alphabetical reference of foods eaten in their natural or near-natural state: apples, barley, carrots, dates, eggs, figs, and so on through zucchini. The full list above covers every letter group. All of these fall into NOVA Group 1, meaning nothing has been added and no industrial processing has taken place.
Are frozen vegetables unprocessed?
Yes, plain frozen vegetables count as minimally processed, which sits in the same NOVA Group 1 as fresh produce. Freezing preserves the food without adding anything, and frozen vegetables are often frozen within hours of harvest. The exception is frozen vegetables packed with sauces, seasoning blends, or cheese, which add oils, starches, and additives.
Is milk unprocessed?
Plain pasteurized milk is minimally processed. Pasteurization is a heat treatment for safety, and nothing is added, so milk stays in NOVA Group 1. Flavored milks, sweetened condensed milk, and milk drinks with stabilizers or added sugar move up the processing scale.
What foods have zero processing?
Foods you could eat straight from the plant or animal with no intermediate steps: fresh fruit like apples and berries, raw vegetables like carrots and cucumbers, and eggs. Most other items on the list involve some minimal step, such as drying lentils, milling oats, or freezing fish, which is still NOVA Group 1 as long as nothing is added.
How do I know if a food is unprocessed?
If it has no label, like fresh produce or a plain cut of meat, it is unprocessed. If it comes in a package, read the ingredient list: one recognizable ingredient, or a short list of whole foods with no added sugar, oils, flavorings, or preservatives, means it is unprocessed or minimally processed. BerryPure scans the label and flags anything ultra-processed in seconds.
See what’s really
in your food
Scan your first label in seconds and start making cleaner choices across your whole kitchen.
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