Are Potato Chips, French Fries & Dehydrated Potatoes “Ultra-Processed”? Actually… No.

There’s a lot of confusion these days about processed vs. ultra-processed foods — and potatoes often get pulled into that conversation. So let’s clear the air: dehydrated potatoes, potato chips, and french fries are not considered “super” or “ultra-processed” foods.

Here’s why.

Processed vs. Ultra-Processed: What’s the Difference?

Processed foods
These are foods that have been changed from their original form for safety, convenience, or preservation — things like freezing, milling, canning, cooking, or drying. The key is this:
👉 Processing does not automatically make a food unhealthy.
Milk is pasteurized, lettuce is washed and bagged, nuts are roasted, and potatoes can be peeled, sliced, frozen, or dried — all still considered minimally or moderately processed.

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs)
Ultra-processed foods contain ingredients you wouldn’t usually find in a home kitchen — things like industrial additives, artificial colors and flavors, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and chemically modified oils. They undergo multiple industrial processing steps and are often far removed from the original whole food.

Examples include:
• Candy
• Soda
• Packaged pastries
• Energy drinks
• Formulated snack cakes
These foods are engineered more for shelf life and “craveability” than for nutrition.

Where Do Potato Products Fit?

🍟 Frozen French Fries

Frozen fries are simply real potatoes that are washed, peeled, cut, briefly blanched, and par-fried in oil before freezing.
They contain only a handful of ingredients — usually potatoes, oil, and salt.
➡️ This makes them processed, not ultra-processed.

🥔 Dehydrated Potatoes (like mashed potato flakes or shreds)

Dehydrated potatoes are whole potatoes that are cooked, mashed or cut, and then dried — that’s it.
They keep their natural nutrients and only remove water. No industrial additives, no artificial ingredients.
➡️ These fall into the minimally processed category.

🍿 Potato Chips

Most potato chips are made from three ingredients: potatoes, oil, and salt.
The process? Slice, cook (usually in oil), season.
➡️ Potato chips are processed, not ultra-processed — especially when they contain simple, recognizable ingredients.

Why This Matters

Potatoes — in all these forms — still deliver:
✔ Vitamin C
✔ Potassium
✔ Fiber (especially with the skin)
✔ Complex carbohydrates for energy
✔ More nutrients per penny than any other vegetable in the produce aisle

And Washington potato growers take pride in growing a safe, quality product that we feed our own families — because our growers are consumers too.

Processing doesn’t make potatoes “bad.” It simply makes them easier to store, easier to cook, and easier to enjoy. When you start with a whole, nutritious food like a Washington potato, you end up with delicious, practical options that fit into real life.