Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Aldi Protein Pancakes Salted Caramel ultra-processed?

4 x 50g Pancakes Sold in the United Kingdom and Germany

Pack of Aldi Protein Pancakes Salted Caramel

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:

  • 42 ingredients
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed pancakes

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

Water, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), caramel 7% (Sugar, Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milk, Sugar), Glucose Syrup, Palm Oil, Water, Shea Kernel Oil, Palm Stearin, Thickener, Powdered Cellulose, Maize Starch, Sea Salt, Emulsifier (Lecithins (Sunflower))), Rapeseed Oil, wheat protein 5%, Whey Powder, Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Egg, pea protein isolate 3.5%, Wheat Gluten, Raising Agents (Diphosphates), Potassium Carbonates, Sugar, Preservatives (Calcium Propionate), Potassium Sorbate, Flavouring, Salt, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)

Additives: E202 Potassium sorbate , E282 Calcium propionate , E322 Lecithins , E330 Citric acid , E450 Diphosphates , E460 Cellulose , E460ii Powdered cellulose

As written on the pack

Water, Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), SALTED CARAMEL PIECES (7%) [Sugar, Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milk, Sugar), Glucose Syrup, Palm Oil, Water, Shea Kernel Oil, Palm Stearin, Thickener. Powdered Cellulose; Maize Starch, Sea Salt, Emulsifier: Lecithins (Sunflower)], Rapeseed Oil, WHEAT PROTEIN (5%), Whey Powder (Milk), Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Pasteurised Egg, PEA PROTEIN ISOLATE (3.5%), Wheat Gluten, Raising Agents: Diphosphates, Potassium Carbonates; Sugar, Preservatives: Calcium Propionate, Potassium Sorbate; Flavouring, Salt, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid.

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.

  • 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.
  • E450 Diphosphates Diphosphates are phosphate salts used as raising agents in baking powder, and to hold water in processed meats and cheese.
  • E460 Cellulose A food additive used to dissolve, dilute, disperse or otherwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without altering its function -and without exerting any technological effect itself- in order to facilitate its handling, application or use of the food additive or nutrient.
  • Emulsifier Emulsifiers keep fat and water from separating, giving products a smooth, stable texture over a long shelf life.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
  • Thickener Thickeners, often gums or modified starches, make liquids more viscous so that a product feels richer than its ingredients alone would make it.

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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Glucose syrup Glucose syrup is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • Invert sugar Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or enzymes.
  • 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.

  • E202 Potassium sorbate Preservatives are substances which prolong the shelf-life of foods by protecting them against deterioration caused by micro-organisms and/or which protect against growth of pathogenic micro-organisms.
  • Preservative Preservatives slow spoilage by microbes.
  • 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.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 55 pancakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 55th. 85% of the pancakes 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 55 pancakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4061463826404, last edited 6 April 2026), 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.