Is it ultra-processed?
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Is caramel rice cakes ultra-processed?

135 g Puffed rice cakes Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of caramel rice cakes

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:

  • 12 ingredients
  • 3 additives

Less processed puffed rice cakes

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

brown rice 36%, corn 35%, sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, rapeseed oil, oligofructose, flavouring, colours (annatto norbixin), sulphite ammonia caramel emulsifier (lecithins), nutrition typical values energy fat

Additives: E160b Annatto , E160bii Annatto norbixin , E322 Lecithins

As written on the pack

brown rice (36%), corn (35%), sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, rapeseed oil, oligofructose, flavouring, colours: annatto norbixin, sulphite ammonia caramel emulsifier: lecithins (soya), allergy advice: for allergens, see ingredients in bold, dietary advice: suitable for vegans, no artificial colours, nutrition typical values energy fat

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.

  • E160b Annatto 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Fructose Fructose is the sugar found naturally in fruit and honey, but as an ingredient it is refined industrially, mostly from corn starch.
1 ingredient that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • Sugar Sugar refined from sugar cane or beet.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 142 puffed rice cakes

From least to most processed, this one ranks 136th. 63% of the puffed rice cakes 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 142 puffed rice cakes, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 4088600526003, last edited 27 March 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.
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.