Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Blue Bell Ice Cream Homemade Vanilla ultra-processed?

1.89 l Ice creams Sold in the United States

Pack of Blue Bell Ice Cream Homemade Vanilla

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
  • 7 additives
  • Nutri-Score D

Less processed ice creams

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

Milk, cream, skim milk, sugar, strawberries, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, citric acid, vegetable gums (carob bean, guar, carrageenan), cellulose gum, artificial color (includes red 40, red 3, blue 1), natural and artificial flavor, annatto color, caramel color

Additives: E127 Erythrosine , E129 Allura red , E133 Brilliant blue FCF , E150c Ammonia caramel , E330 Citric acid , E407 Carrageenan , E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose

Also detected, but not matched to one ingredient: E129 Allura red, E150c Ammonia caramel.

As written on the pack

Milk, cream, skim milk, sugar, strawberries, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, citric acid, vegetable gums (carob bean, guar, carrageenan), cellulose gum, artificial color (includes red 40, red 3, blue 1), natural and artificial flavor, annatto color, caramel color.

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.

  • E127 Erythrosine Erythrosine is a synthetic red dye (FD&C Red No. 3 in the US).
  • E129 Allura red Allura red AC is a synthetic red azo dye (FD&C Red No. 40 in the US).
  • E133 Brilliant blue FCF Brilliant blue FCF is a synthetic blue dye, listed in the US as FD&C Blue No. 1.
  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • E407 Carrageenan Carrageenan is a thickener and gelling agent extracted from red seaweed, used widely in dairy desserts, plant-based drinks and processed meats.
  • E466 Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose Carboxymethyl cellulose is a thickener made by chemically modifying cellulose from wood or cotton.
Show 2 more
  • 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.

  • Glucose Glucose, usually listed as glucose syrup, is cheap, keeps products moist and stops sugar from crystallising.
  • High fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch: enzymes break it down to glucose and convert part of that into fructose, giving a syrup about as sweet as table sugar.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn 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.

  • Ice creams Products in the category "Ice creams" are at least group 3.
  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 321 ice creams

From least to most processed, this one ranks 262nd. 93% of the ice creams 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 321 ice creams, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0071899037200, last edited 24 May 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.