Reduced Nutrient Density - Processed foods

Empty Calories: "calories from solid fats and added sugars in foods and beverages" (1)

Many people understand empty calorie foods (energy dense foods) and examples of them: Kit Kat, Grape Soda, Cookies.  Check out the nutrional value of canned pasta, or the lack of it. The amount of added sugar and solid fat in this food are low so technically it isn't considered an empty calorie food. When we look at this and other processed foods: Graham Crackers, Baked Fries, Nutri-grain bar, Whole-wheat crackers, Corn Flakes we see a lack of nutrient density. Aside from the artificial vitamins/minerals present in the cereal, all we find in these foods is calories and trace minerals.  Guess where these particular foods were listed?

Empty Calorie Foods according to the government

These foods are actually recommended to replace other processed foods.  Honestly we don't need to be eating any of these foods and if you are you might as well eat the most tasty one because the difference between their suggestion and the purported empty calorie food is negligible if not absent.

Frozen Fruit Bars (No Sugar added) http://ndb.nal.usda.gov

Frozen Yogurt (Chocolate) http://ndb.nal.usda.gov

This fruit bar has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.  The chocolate yogurt has some added sugar but it also has calcium and some antioxidants from the chocolate.  My main point here is that foods don't need to be high in fat and sugar to still be an empty calorie food.  At the same time, foods with a lot of fat and sugar can still have beneficial nutrients.  A prime example of this is dark chocolate.

1 http://www.choosemyplate.gov