Is it ultra-processed?
Menu

Is Buldak Quattro Cheese Ramen ultra-processed?

145g Pot noodles Sold in Canada and Morocco

Pack of Buldak Quattro Cheese Ramen

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:

  • 54 ingredients
  • 9 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Less processed pot noodles

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

Noodle (Wheat Flour), Food Starch-Modified, Palm Oil, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Glycerin, Soybean Oil, Guar Gum, Water, Potassium Carbonate, Riboflavin, Sauce (Water), Mozzarella Cheese (Whey, Dextrin, Enzymes, Annatto), Yeast Extract, Skim Milk Powder, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Water, Salt, Wheat), Soybean Oil, Chili Pepper, Artificial Chicken Flavor Powder (Dextrin, Artificial Flavor, Yeast Extract, Sugar), Salt, Food Starch-Modified, Onion, Garlic, Paprika Oleoresin, Chili Pepper Oleoresin, Black Pepper Powder, Mozzarella Cheese (Palm Oil, Skim Milk, Dextrin, Milk Cream, Enzymes, Annatto), Mixed Cheese (Water, Cheddar Cheese, Gouda Cheese, Camembert Cheese)

Additives: E101 Riboflavin , E101i Riboflavin , E1400 Dextrin , E160c Paprika extract , E412 Guar gum , E422 Glycerol , E501 Potassium carbonates , E501i Potassium carbonate , E621 Monosodium glutamate

As written on the pack

Noodle: Wheat Flour, Food Starch-Modified, Palm Oil, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Glycerin, Soybean Oil, Guar Gum, Water, Potassium Carbonate, Riboflavin, Sauce: Water, Mozzarella Cheese (Whey, Dextrin, Enzymes, Annatto Extract), Yeast Extract, Skim Milk Powder, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Sauce (Defatted Soybean, Water, Salt, Wheat), Soybean Oil, Chili Pepper Powder, Artificial Chicken Flavor Powder (Dextrin, Artificial Flavor, Yeast Extract, Sugar), Salt, Food Starch-Modified, Onion, Garlic, Paprika Oleoresin, Chili Pepper Oleoresin, Black Pepper Powder, Mozzarella Cheese Powder (Palm Oil, Skim Milk, Dextrin, Milk Cream, Enzymes, Annatto Extract), Mixed Cheese Powder (Water, Cheddar Cheese, Gouda Cheese, Camembert Cheese), Contains Wheat, Soy, Milk.

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.

  • E101 Riboflavin 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.
  • E1400 Dextrin Dextrin is starch partly broken down by heat or acid, used as a thickener, binder and coating.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E422 Glycerol Glycerol is a sweet-tasting liquid used to keep products moist and soft.
  • E621 Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, made by fermentation and used to strengthen savoury taste.
Show 2 more
  • 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.

  • Gluten Wheat gluten, sold as "vital wheat gluten", is the protein washed out of wheat flour.
  • 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.
8 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.
  • Sauce A prepared sauce used as an ingredient.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.
  • 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

Among 21 pot noodles

From least to most processed, this one ranks 21st. 81% of the pot noodles 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 21 pot noodles, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 8801073115088, last edited 3 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 E (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.