Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Annie's Macaroni & Cheese Classic Cheddar ultra-processed?

170gr Cereals and their products Sold in Canada and France

Pack of Annie's Macaroni & Cheese Classic Cheddar

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:

  • 24 ingredients
  • 4 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed cereals and their products

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

pasta (wheat flour), whey, cultured cream (cream, bacterial cultures), skim milk, salt, butter, cheddar cheese (milk, bacterial cultures, salt, microbial enzyme), corn starch, citric acid, annatto (for colour), lactic acid, sunflower lecithin, sodium phosphate, silicon dioxide (for anticaking), ingredients

Additives: E270 Lactic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid

As written on the pack

ORGANIC PASTA (ORGANIC WHEAT FLOUR), WHEY, CULTURED CREAM (CREAM, BACTERIAL CULTURES), SKIM MILK, SALT, BUTTER, DRIED CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, BACTERIAL CULTURES, SALT, NON-ANIMAL MICROBIAL ENZYME), CORN STARCH, CITRIC ACID, ANNATTO EXTRACT (FOR COLOUR), LACTIC ACID, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SILICON DIOXIDE (FOR ANTICAKING). CONTAINS WHEAT AND 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.

  • 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.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.

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.

  • 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.
4 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.

  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.
  • Starch Starch extracted from cereals or potatoes, used to thicken.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 5,078 cereals and their products

From least to most processed, this one ranks 4077th. 57% of the cereals and their products 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 5,078 cereals and their products, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0013562000500, last edited 23 September 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.