Is it ultra-processed?
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Is apple pie Met-Rx bar ultra-processed?

3.52oz Sold in the United States

Pack of apple pie Met-Rx bar

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:

  • 68 ingredients
  • 10 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Soy crisps (soy protein isolate, tapioca starch, salt), apple layer (fruit (apple puree, apple juice), sugar, glucose syrup, glycerol, palm fat, rice starch, malic acid, natural flavor, calcium lactate, citrus fiber, sunflower lecithin), yogurt coating (sugar, palm kernel oil, dry milk, yogurt powder (whey protein, skim milk), soy lecithin, salt, natural flavor), corn syrup, metamyosyn v100 protein blend (whey protein isolate, milk protein isolate, whey protein, egg white, l-glutamine), maltitol syrup, crystalline fructose, dried apples, fractionated palm oil, glycerin, water, canola oil (with tocopherols added to protect flavor), cinnamon, natural flavor, fructooligosaccharides, xanthan gum, vitamin and mineral blend (tricalcium phosphate, ascorbic acid, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate, niacinamide, zinc oxide, copper gluconate, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin a palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, biotin, potassium iodide, cyanocobalamin), dipotassium phosphate, salt, soy lecithin, almond butter, peanut flour

Additives: E296 Malic acid , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E327 Calcium lactate , E340 Potassium phosphates , E340ii Dipotassium phosphate , E415 Xanthan gum , E422 Glycerol , E965 Maltitol , E965ii Maltitol syrup

As written on the pack

Soy crisps (soy protein isolate, tapioca starch, salt), apple layer (fruit [apple puree concentrate, apple juice concentrate], sugar, glucose syrup, glycerol, palm fat, rice starch, malic acid, natural flavor, calcium lactate, citrus fiber, sunflower lecithin), yogurt flavored coating (sugar, palm kernel oil, nonfat dry milk solids, yogurt powder [cultured whey protein concentrate, cultured skim milk], soy lecithin, salt, natural flavor), corn syrup, metamyosyn v100 protein blend (whey protein isolate, milk protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, dried egg white, l-glutamine), maltitol syrup, crystalline fructose, dried apples, fractionated palm oil, glycerin, water, canola oil (with tocopherols added to protect flavor), ground cinnamon, natural flavor, fructooligosaccharides, xanthan gum, vitamin and mineral blend (tricalcium phosphate, ascorbic acid, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate, niacinamide, zinc oxide, copper gluconate, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin a palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, biotin, potassium iodide, cyanocobalamin), dipotassium phosphate, salt, soy lecithin, almond butter, peanut flour.

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.
  • E327 Calcium lactate Thickeners are substances which increase the viscosity of a foodstuff.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E965 Maltitol Maltitol is a sugar alcohol made from starch, used as a sweetener in "no added sugar" sweets and chocolate.
  • Flavouring Flavourings are concentrated aroma preparations that add or intensify a taste.
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  • Sweetener Sweeteners give sweetness with few or no calories, many at hundreds of times the strength of sugar.

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.
  • Milk proteins Milk proteins are proteins separated from milk, such as caseinates and whey protein concentrates, added to adjust texture or raise protein content.
  • Vegetable fiber Isolated plant fibres, such as inulin, oat fibre or bamboo fibre, are extracted industrially and added to change texture or support "source of fibre" claims.
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.

  • 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.
  • Milk powder Milk powder is milk with the water evaporated off: a preserved form of a whole food rather than an industrial extract.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0786560159357, last edited 6 August 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.