[rayiner]

It’s not semantics. I’m trying to understand what OP means by “real food,” because I suspect he’s peddling nature woo.[1] Heavily processed food, like sausages and cured meats, have been a basic part of the human diet for millennia.

[1] https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Nature_woo

[squish78]

Then you just answered your own question if sausage is real food... so why are you asking?

But if you want to talk about curing meats, that's a fun topic. The ones my fam makes are way tastier than Jimmy Dean's

[rayiner]

I’m trying to figure out the contours of what OP considers “real food.” Because there is no scientific basis for the term.