Is Alden's Organic Old School Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich ultra-processed?

Ice creams Sold in the United States

Yes, it's ultra-processed

1 Unprocessed
2 Kitchen staple
3 Processed
4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

Flavouring
E150c Ammonia caramel
E322 Lecithins
E410 Locust bean gum
E412 Guar gum

19 ingredients
7 additives
Nutri-Score D

Less processed ice creams

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Ice cream (cream), milk, cane sugar (processing marker), egg yolks, vanilla extract, locust bean gum (ultra-processing marker), guar gum (ultra-processing marker), chocolate wafers (wheat flour), sugar (processing marker), cane syrup, palm oil, caramel color, baking soda, soy lecithin (ultra-processing marker), cocoa, salt (processing marker), natural vanilla flavor (ultra-processing marker)

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E410 Locust bean gum , E412 Guar gum , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Ice cream: organic cream, organic milk, organic cane sugar, organic egg yolks, organic vanilla extract, organic locust bean gum, organic guar gum. chocolate wafers: organic wheat flour, organic sugar, organic cane syrup, organic palm oil, organic caramel color, baking soda, organic soy lecithin, organic cocoa, salt, natural vanilla flavor.

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.

E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
E322 Lecithins Lecithins are fatty substances extracted mostly from soybeans, sunflower seeds or eggs, used as emulsifiers to keep fat and water mixed, for example in chocolate.
E410 Locust bean gum Locust bean gum (carob gum) is a thickener and stabiliser from the seeds of the carob tree.
E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.

3 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.

Ice creams Products in the category "Ice creams" are at least group 3.
Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 321 ice creams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 112th. 93% of the ice creams here are ultra-processed.

Ranked by NOVA group, then by the number of ultra-processing signs, additives and ingredients. Our ordering, not part of NOVA.

All 321 ice creams, least processed first

About this information

Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0072609741219, last edited 26 October 2025), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
Photo: Open Food Facts contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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.