What term describes food that has undergone planned or deliberate changes before being consumed?

The term that best describes food that has undergone planned or deliberate changes before being consumed is processed food. Processed foods refer to items that have been altered from their original form through methods such as cooking, canning, freezing, or the addition of preservatives or flavorings. The goal of processing is often to enhance flavor, improve shelf life, or make the food more convenient for consumption.

While refined food typically refers to foods that have been stripped of certain nutrients during processing, such as white flour or white sugar, it is a more specific subset of processed foods. Prepared food usually refers to meals that require little to no additional cooking, such as pre-packaged meals, which implies a level of convenience but does not necessarily encompass all planned changes made to the food. Modified food can denote alterations made to the nutritional content, often through fortification or other changes, but it lacks the broader context of the various methods of processing. Therefore, processed food is the most accurate and encompassing term for food that has been deliberately altered before being consumed.