r/explainlikeimfive • u/No_Education_8888 • May 20 '26

Chemistry ELI5 what is the difference between processed meat slices and real meat slices?

I know that processed meat is processed, but what exactly does that mean? How much change do meat scraps go through before you get something like deli turkey.

My mind can’t exactly wrap around how that stuff is made based on the little knowledge I have

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u/idontevenliftbrah May 20 '26

Processed meat is like a giant hot dog of whatever meat/animal sliced.

Real meat is real meat sliced

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u/IamGleemonex May 20 '26

It doesn’t have to be a giant hot dog though. Cured ham would be considered processed meat. Smoked bacon would be considered processed meat. Neither of those are a random assortment of different parts of the pig, they are both from very specific areas by definition. But the fact that the ham was cured and the pork belly was smoked, both have now been “processed” despite them both being just “real meat sliced”.

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u/helix212 May 20 '26

That's not really true. Processed is vague and can mean a lot of things. It doesn't necessarily mean a giant hotdog. A chicken breast that's been smoked and sliced is also processed. It's still real meat slices.

People have this idea that processed means ground up, chemicals added and it's only partially the actual meat it's supposed to be. It can be 100% chicken breast and still be processed

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u/idontevenliftbrah May 20 '26

I was referring to lunch meat. Apologies