There's lots of additives in processed food, because the food processing machines require them. I guess a lot of food processing innovation is about finding new additives that makes the food sludge go through the machines a bit faster, or makes the machines clog less or require less cleaning and downtime. The food itself doesn't require those additives, and probably makes it worse in many ways.

There might be a way to prepare food without additives at scale. Basically, prepare food traditionally like a human cook but use robotics. Pick and place in parallel instead of pushing food through pipes. Not sure if viable, but I'd be more willing to eat such food even if it'd be more expensive.