Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is 1.00oz doritos cra cool ranch ultra-processed?

Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 37 ingredients
  • 11 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Corn, Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and Sunflower Oil), Buttermilk, Salt, Corn Dextrin, Tomato, Corn Starch, Whey, Corn Syrup Solids, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Monosodium Glutamate, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Skim Milk, Sugar, Dextrose, Malic Acid, Sodium Acetate, Artificial Color (Including Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5), Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Phosphate, Spice, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Disodium Inosinate, and Disodium Guanylate, ingredients

Additives: E102 Tartrazine , E129 Allura red , E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E1400 Dextrin , E262 Sodium acetates , E262i Sodium acetate , E296 Malic acid , E339ii Disodium phosphate , E621 Monosodium glutamate , E627 Disodium guanylate , E631 Disodium inosinate

As written on the pack

Whole Corn, Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Buttermilk, Salt, Corn Dextrin, Tomato Powder, Corn Starch, Whey, Corn Syrup Solids, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Monosodium Glutamate, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Skim Milk, Sugar, Dextrose, Malic Acid, Sodium Acetate, Artificial Color (Including Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5), Sodium Caseinate, Disodium Phosphate, Spice, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Disodium Inosinate, and Disodium Guanylate. CONTAINS MILK INGREDIENTS.

What makes it ultra-processed

Cosmetic additives

Added to change how the food looks, feels or tastes, not to keep it safe. A hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • E102 Tartrazine Tartrazine is a synthetic yellow azo dye (FD&C Yellow No. 5 in the US).
  • E129 Allura red Allura red AC is a synthetic red azo dye (FD&C Red No. 40 in the US).
  • E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
  • E627 Disodium guanylate Disodium guanylate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
Show 3 more
  • E631 Disodium inosinate Disodium inosinate is a flavour enhancer usually used together with MSG.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

Substances rarely used in home kitchens

Refined or extracted in factories, such as syrups made from starch or isolated proteins. The other hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • Dextrose Dextrose is pure glucose crystallised from starch-derived syrup.
  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Whey Whey is the liquid left over from cheese making, usually dried into a powder and used as a cheap source of milk solids, protein and lactose.
5 ingredients that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.
  • Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0028400052979, last edited 4 August 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • The NOVA group is an automated estimate from crowdsourced data: a missing or mistyped ingredient can change it.
  • NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of D (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.