Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Catalina Crunch Cheddar Protein Snack Mix ultra-processed?

200 g Sold in the United States

Pack of Catalina Crunch Cheddar Protein Snack Mix

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:

  • 61 ingredients
  • 14 additives
  • Nutri-Score E

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

Catalina Crunch Cereal (Pea Protein, Tapioca Starch, Potato Fiber, Corn Fiber, Chicory Root Fiber, Calcium Carbonate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Caramel Color, Yeast Extract, Salt), Cheddar Cheese Crisps (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Annatto (Color), Enzymes, Vitamin A Palmitate), Cashews (Cashews, Canola Oil), Sunflower Oil, Seasoning (Whey, Tapioca, Salt, Buttermilk, Sugar, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Salt, Cultures, Enzymes), Sour Cream, Cream, Nonfat Milk), Onion Powder, Natural Flavor, Yeast Extract, Paprika Extract, Garlic Powder, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Chickpea Pretzels (Chickpea Flour, Potato Flour, Cornstarch, Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Sea Salt, Cane Sugar, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Pea Protein, Sunflower Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Yeast, Citric Acid), Mixed Tocopherols

Additives: E150c Ammonia caramel , E160b Annatto , E160c Paprika extract , E270 Lactic acid , E306 Tocopherol-rich extract , E322 Lecithins , E322i Lecithin , E330 Citric acid , E341 Calcium phosphates , E341i Monocalcium phosphate , E412 Guar gum , E415 Xanthan gum , E500 Sodium carbonates , E500ii Sodium hydrogen carbonate

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

As written on the pack

Catalina Crunch Cereal (Pea Protein, Tapioca Starch, Potato Fiber, Corn Fiber, Chicory Root Fiber, Leavening [Calcium Carbonate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate], Guar Gum, Caramel Color, Yeast Extract, Salt), Cheddar Cheese Crisps (Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Annatto [Color], Enzymes, Vitamin A Palmitate), Roasted Cashews (Cashews, Canola Oil), Sunflower Oil, Seasoning (Whey, Tapioca Solids, Salt, Buttermilk, Sugar, Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Salt, Cultures, Enzymes], Sour Cream [Cream Solids, Cultured Nonfat Milk), Onion Powder, Natural Flavor, Yeast Extract, Paprika Extract, Garlic Powder, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid), Chickpea Pretzels (Chickpea Flour, Potato Flour, Cornstarch, Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Sea Salt, Cane Sugar, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Pea Protein, Sunflower Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Yeast, Citric Acid), Mixed Tocopherols

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.

  • E150c Ammonia caramel Ammonia caramel is a brown colour made by heating sugars with ammonia compounds.
  • 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.
  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • 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.
  • E412 Guar gum Guar gum is a thickener ground from the seeds of the guar plant.
  • E415 Xanthan gum Xanthan gum is a thickener made by fermenting sugar with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.
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  • 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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
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.

  • 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.
  • Cheese Cheese is milk preserved with salt, cultures and rennet.

How the NOVA groups work

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 0850017468160, last edited 30 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.