Is Ben's Original Ready Rice Roasted Chicken ultra-processed?
Yes, it's ultra-processed
- 1 Unprocessed
- 2 Kitchen staple
- 3 Processed
- 4 Ultra-processed
Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:
- 38 ingredients
- 3 additives
- Nutri-Score B
Less processed rices
Ingredients
Ultra-processing Processing
water, parboiled long grain rice, less than 2% of, canola oil, salt (processing marker), yeast extract, carrots, modified corn starch (ultra-processing marker), natural flavors (ultra-processing marker), onion, maltodextrin (ultra-processing marker), parsley, chicken fat, citric acid, garlic, sugar (processing marker), chicken (chicken, chicken broth, natural flavor (ultra-processing marker), citric acid), spices, safflower oil (processing marker), vitamins, minerals (calcium (calcium carbonate), iron (iron phosphate), Vitamin B3 (niacinamide), Vitamine B1 (thimine mononitrate), folic acid), turmeric extract (ultra-processing marker) (color (ultra-processing marker)), sunflower oil (processing marker), lactic acid
Additives: E100 Curcumin , E270 Lactic acid , E330 Citric acid
As written on the pack
water, parboiled long grain rice, less than 2% of (canola oil, salt, yeast extract, carrots, modified corn starch, natural flavors, onion, maltodextrin, parsley, chicken fat, citric acid, garlic, sugar, cooked chicken, (chicken, chicken broth, natural flavor, citric acid), spices, safflower oil, vitamins and minerals (calcium (calcium carbonate), iron (iron phosphate), Vitamin B3 (niacinamide), Vitamine B1 (thimine mononitrate), folic acid), turmeric extract (color), sunflower oil, lactic 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.
- E100 Curcumin Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.
- 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.
- Modified starch Modified starch is starch altered physically, with enzymes or chemically, so that it thickens, gels or survives freezing and heating better than ordinary starch.
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.
- Maltodextrin Maltodextrin is a white powder made by partly breaking down starch.
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.
- Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
- 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.
- Vegetable oil Vegetable oils are pressed or extracted from seeds, nuts and fruits.
Among 293 rices
From least to most processed, this one ranks 287th. 35% of the rices here are ultra-processed.
About this information
- Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0054800423309, last edited 2 October 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 B (from A, best, to E).
- General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.