Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Aldi Sweet chilli rice-cakes ultra-processed?

Puffed rice cakes Sold in the United Kingdom and Germany

Pack of Aldi Sweet chilli rice-cakes

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:

  • 20 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed puffed rice cakes

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

brown rice 34%, white rice 26%, corn 26%, rapeseed oil, sugar, salt, dextrose, flavouring, rice flour, onion, acidity regulators (calcium phosphates), citric acid, tomato, potato maltodextrin, colour (paprika extract), spices, antioxidant (extracts of rosemary)

Additives: E160c Paprika extract , E330 Citric acid , E341 Calcium phosphates , E392 Extracts of rosemary

As written on the pack

brown rice (34%), white rice (26%), corn (26%), rapeseed oil, sugar, salt, dextrose, flavouring, rice flour, onion powder, acidity regulators: calcium phosphates, citric acid, tomato powder, potato maltodextrin, colour: paprika extract, spices, antioxidant: extracts of rosemary,

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.

  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • 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.
  • Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
2 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.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 142 puffed rice cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 138th. 63% of the puffed rice cakes 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 142 puffed rice cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4088600526027, last edited 26 March 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.